THE  LIBRARY 

OF  /- 

THE  UNIVERSITY/ 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

IN  MEMORY  OF 
MRS.  VIRGINIA  B.  SPORER 


WATERLOO 

A  SEQUEL  TO  THE  CONSCRIPT  OF  1813 


PEACE  WAS  RETURNING. 


WATERLOO 


A  SEQUEL  TO  THE  CONSCRIPT  OF  1813 


TRANSLATED   FROM  THE  FRENCH  OF 

ERCKMANN-CHATRIAN 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW   YORK 

CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S   SONS 

1904 


COPYRIGHT,  1869,  BY 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER  &  CO. 

COPYRIGHT,  1889  AND  1898, 
BY  CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SOfcS 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PEACE  WAS  RETURNING,       •••>••    Frontispiece 

PACING 
PAGE 

PEASANTS  WERE  ARRIVING  IN  BANDS,         .        .        .        .36 
M.  PlNACLE  AND  THE  BARAQUINS, 46 

Two  DAYS  AFTER,  MY  MARRIAGE  WITH  CATHERINE  TOOK 

PLACE, 76 

"  IT  IS  WHAT  MAY  BE  CALLED  A  PRINCE'S  WATCH,"         .  108 

PEOPLE  WERE   HEARD  SHOUTING,  "  THERE  IT  is !  THERE 

IT  is!"  .  ....  118 

AUNT  CRIED  OUT  TO  ME,  "  Is  IT  You,  JOSEPH  ?  "    .        .  168 
A  MOUNTED  HUSSAR  WAS  LOOKING  OUT  INTO  THE  NIGHT,  190 

THE   EMPEROR,   HIS   HANDS  BEHIND    HIS  BACK  AND  HIS 

HEAD  BENT  FORWARD, 214 

HE  HAD  HAD  THE  COURAGE  TO  PULL  UP  THE  BUCKET,   .  240 

COMBAT  OP  HOUGOUMONT  FARM, 302 

THE  EMPEROR  HAD  LEFT  FOB  PARIS,         •       •        .       .  310 


2041940 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE 

OFTEN  as  the  campaign  of  "Waterloo  has  been 
described  by  historians  and  frequently  as  it  has 
been  celebrated  in  fiction  it  has  rarely  been  nar- 
rated from  the  stand-point  of  a  private  soldier 
participating  in  it  and  telling  only  what  he  saw. 
That  this  limitation,  however,  does  not  exclude 
events  of  the  greatest  importance  and  incidents  of 
the  most  intensely  dramatic  interest  is  abundantly 
proved  by  the  narrative  of  the  Conscript  who 
makes  another  campaign  in  this  volume  and  de- 
scribes it  with  his  customary  painstaking  fulness 
and  fidelity.  But  what  renders  "  Waterloo  "  still 
more  interesting  is  the  picture  it  presents  of  the 
state  of  affairs  after  the  first  Bourbon  restoration, 
and  its  description  of  how  gradually  but  surely  the 
way  was  prepared  by  the  stupidity  of  the  new 
regime  for  that  return  to  power  of  Napoleon  which 
seems  so  dramatically  sudden  and  unexpected  to 
a  superficial  view  of  the  events  of  the  time.  In 
this  respect  "  Waterloo "  deserves  to  rank  very 
high  as  a  chapter  of  familiar  history,  or  at  least 
of  historical  commentary. 


WATERLOO: 

A  SEQUEL  TO 

THE  CONSCRIPT  OF  1813 


THE  joy  of  the  people  on  the  return  of  Louis 
XVIII.,  in  1814,  was  unbounded.  It  was  in  the 
spring,  and  the  hedges,  gardens,  and  orchards  were 
in  full  bloom.  The  people  had  for  years  suffered  so 
much  misery,  and  had  so  many  times  feared  being 
carried  off  by  the  conscription  never  to  return,  they 
were  so  weary  of  battles,  of  the  captured  cannon,  of 
all  the  glory  and  the  Te  Deums,  that  they  wished 
for  nothing  but  to  live  in  peace  and  quiet  and  to 
rear  their  families  by  honest  labor. 

Indeed,  everybody  was  content  except  the  old 
soldiers  and  the  fencing-masters. 

I  well  remember  how,  when  on  the  3d  of  May  the 
order  came  to  raise  the  white  flag  on  the  church,  the 
whole  town  trembled  for  fear  of  the  soldiers  of  the 
garrison,  and  Nicholas  Passauf,  the  slater,  demand- 

i 


2  WATERLOO 

ed  six  louis  for  the  bold  feat.  He  was  plainly  to  be 
seen  from  every  street  with  the  white  silk  flag  with 
its  "  fleur-de-lis/ '  and  the  soldiers  were  shooting  at 
him  from  every  window  of  the  two  barracks,  but 
Passauf  raised  his  flag  in  spite  of  them  and  came 
down  arid  hid  himself  in  the  barn  of  the  "  Trois  Mai- 
sons,"  while  the  marines  were  searching  the  town 
for  him  to  kill  him. 

That  was  their  feeling,  but  the  laborers  and  the 
peasants  and  the  tradespeople  with  one  voice  hailed 
the  return  of  peace  and  cried,  "  Down  with  the  con- 
scription and  the  right  of  union."  Everybody  was 
tired  of  living  like  a  bird  on  branch  and  of  risking 
their  lives  for  matters  which  did  not  concern  them. 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  joy  nobody  was  so  happy 
as  I;  the  others  had  not  had  the  good  luck  to  escape 
unharmed  from  the  terrible  battles  of  Weissenfels 
and  Lutzen  and  Leipzig,  and  from  the  horrible  ty- 
phus. I  had  made  the  acquaintance  of  glory  and 
that  gave  me  a  still  greater  love  for  peace  and  horror 
of  conscription. 

I  had  come  back  to  Father  Goulden's,  and  I  shall 
never  in  my  life  forget  his  hearty  welcome,  or  his 
exclamation  as  he  took  me  in  his  arms:  "  It  is  Jo- 
seph! Ah!  my  dear  child,  I  thought  you  were 
lost!  '•'  and  we  mingled  our  tears  and  our  embraces 
together.  And  then  we  lived  together  again  like 


WATERLOO  3 

two  friends.  He  would  make  me  go  over  our  battles 
again  and  again,  and  laughingly  call  me  "  the  old 
soldier."  Then  he  would  tell  me  of  the  siege  of 
Pfalzbourg,  how  the  enemy  arrived  before  the  town 
in  January,  and  how  the  old  republicans  with  a 
few  hundred  gunners  were  sent  to  mount  our  can- 
non on  the  ramparts,  how  they  were  obliged  to  eat 
horseflesh  on  account  of  the  famine,  and  to  break 
up  the  iron  utensils  of  the  citizens  to  make  case-shot 
and  canister. 

Father  Goulden,  in  spite  of  his  threescore  years, 
had  aimed  the  pieces  on  the  Magazine  bastion  on  the 
Bichelberg  side,  and  I  often  imagined  I  could  see 
him  with  his  black  silk  cap  and  spectacles  on,  in  the 
act  of  aiming  a  twenty-four  pounder.  Then  this 
would  make  us  both  laugh  and  helped  to  pass  away 
the  time. 

We  had  resumed  all  our  old  habits.  I  laid  the 
table  and  made  the  soup.  I  was  occupying  my  little 
chamber  again  and  dreamed  of  Catherine  day  and 
night.  But  now,  instead  of  being  afraid  of  the  con- 
scription as  I  was  in  1813,  I  had  something  else  to 
trouble  me.  Man  is  never  quite  happy,  some  petty 
misery  or  other  assails  him.  How  often  do  we  see 
this  in  life?  My  peace  was  disturbed  by  this. 

You  know  I  was  to  marry  Catherine;  we  were 
agreed,  and  Aunt  Gredel  desired  nothing  better. 


4  WATERLOO 

Unhappily,  however,  the  conscripts  of  1815  were 
disbanded,  while  those  of  1813  still  remained  sol- 
diers. It  was  no  longer  so  dangerous  to  be  a  soldier 
as  it  was  under  the  Empire,  and  many  of  these  had 
returned  to  their  homes  and  were  living  quietly, 
but  that  did  not  prevent  the  necessity  of  my  having 
a  permit  in  order  to  be  married.  Mr.  Jourdan,  the 
new  mayor,  would  never  allow  me  to  register  with- 
out this  permission,  and  this  made  me  anxious. 

Father  Goulden,  as  soon  as  the  city  gates  were 
opened,  had  written  to  the  minister  of  war,  Dupont, 
that  I  was  at  Pfalzbourg  and  still  unwell,  that  I  had 
limped  from  my  birth,  and  that  I  had  in  spite  of  this 
been  pressed  into  the  service,  that  I  was  a  poor  sol- 
dier, but  that  I  could  make  a  good  father  of  a  fam- 
ily, that  it  would  be  a  real  crime  to  prevent  me  from 
marrying,  that  I  was  ill-formed  and  weak  and  should 
be  obliged  to  go  into  the  hospital,  etc. 

It  was  a  beautiful  letter,  and  it  told  the  truth  too. 
The  very  idea  of  going  away  again  made  me  ill.  So 
we  waited  from  day  to  day — Aunt  Gredel,  Father 
Goulden,  Catherine,  and  I,  for  the  answer  from  the 
minister. 

I  cannot  describe  the  impatience  I  felt  when  the 
postman  Brainstein,  the  son  of  the  bell-ringer,  came 
into  the  street.  I  could  hear  him  half  a  mile  away, 
then  I  could  not  go  on  with  my  work,  but  must 


WATERLOO  y 

lean  out  of  the  window  and  watch  him  as  he  went 
from  house  to  house.  When  he  would  stay  a  little 
too  long,  I  would  say  to  myself,  "  What  can  he  have 
to  talk  about  so  long?  why  don't  he  leave  his  letters 
and  come  away  ?  he  is  a  regular  tattler,  that  Brain- 
stein!  "  I  was  ready  to  pounce  upon  him.  Some- 
times I  ran  down  to  meet  him,  and  would  ask, 
"  Have  you  nothing  for  me  ?  "  "  No,  Mr.  Joseph," 
he  would  reply  as  he  looked  over  his  letters.  Then 
I  would  go  sadly  back,  and  Father  Goulden,  who 
had  been  looking  on,  would  say: 

"  Have  a  little  patience,  child!  have  patience,  it 
will  come.  It  is  not  war  time  now." 

"  But  he  has  had  time  to  answer  a  dozen  times, 
Mr.  Goulden." 

"  Do  you  think  he  has  nobody's  affairs  to  attend 
to  but  yours?  He  receives  hundreds  of  such  letters 
every  day — and  each  one  receives  his  answer  in  his 
turn.  And  then  everything  is  in  confusion  from 
top  to  bottom.  Come,  come!  we  are  not  alone  in 
the  world — many  other  brave  fellows  are  waiting 
for  their  permits  to  be  married." 

I  knew  he  was  right,  but  I  said  to  myself,  "  If 
that  minister  only  knew  how  happy  he  would  make 
us  by  just  writing  ten  words,  I  am  sure  he  would 
do  it  at  once.  How  we  would  bless  him,  Catherine 
and  I,  Aunt  Gredel  and  all  of  us."  But  wait  we 
must. 


WATERLOO 


Of  course  I  had  resumed  my  old  habit  of  going  to 
Quatre  Vents  on  Sundays.  On  these  mornings  I 
was  always  awake  early — I  do  not  know  what  roused 
me.  At  first  I  thought  I  was  a  soldier  again;  this 
made  me  shiver.  Then  I  would  open  my  eyes,  look 
at  the  ceiling,  and  think,  "  Why  you  are  at  homo 
with  Father  Goulden,  at  Pfalzbourg,  in  your  own 
little  room.  To-day  is  Sunday,  and  you  are  going 
to  see  Catherine."  By  this  time  I  was  wide  awake, 
and  could  see  Catherine  with  her  blooming  cheeks 
and  blue  eyes.  I  wanted  to  get  up  at  once  and  dress 
myself  and  set  off.  But  the  clocks  had  just  struck 
four,  and  the  city  gates  were  still  shut.  I  was 
obliged  to  wait,  and  this  annoyed  me  very  much. 
In  order  to  keep  patience  I  began  to  recall  our  court- 
ship, remembering  the  first  days,  how  we  feared  the 
conscription  and  the  drawing  of  the  unlucky  num- 
ber, with  its  "  fit  for  service;  "  the  old  guard  Wer- 
ner, at  the  mayor's,  the  leave-taking,  the  journey  to 
Mayence,  and  the  broad  Capougnerstrasse  where  the 
good  woman  gave  me  a  foot-bath,  Frankfort  and 
Erfurth  farther  on,  where  I  received  my  first  letter, 
two  days  before  the  battle,  the  Kussians,  the  Prus- 
sians— everything  in  fact — and  then  I  would  weep, 
but  the  thought  of  Catherine  was  always  uppermost. 

When  the  clock  struck  five  I  jumped  from  my 
bed,  washed  and  shaved  and  dressed  myself,  then 


WATERLOO  7 

Father  Goulden,  still  behind  his  big  curtains,  would 
put  out  his  nose  and  say: 

"  I  hear  you!  I  hear  you!  You  have  been  roll- 
ing and  tumbling  for  the  last  half  hour.  Ha!  ha  I 
it  is  Sunday  to-day." 

He  would  laugh  at  his  own  wit,  and  I  laughed 
with  him,  and  would  then  bid  him  good-morning 
and  be  down  the  stairs  at  a  bound. 

Very  few  people  were  stirring,  but  Sepel  the 
butcher  would  always  call  out :  "  Come  here,  Jo- 
seph, I  have  something  to  tell  you."  But  I  only 
just  turned  my  head,  and  ten  minutes  after  was  on 
the  high-road  to  Quatre  Vents,  outside  the  city 
walls.  Oh !  how  fine  the  weather  was  that  beautiful 
year!  How  green  and  flourishing  everything 
looked,  and  how  busy  the  people  were,  trying  to 
make  up  for  lost  time,  planting  and  watering  their 
cabbages  and  turnips,  and  digging  over  the  ground 
trodden  down  by  the  cavalry ;  how  confident  every- 
body was  too  of  the  goodness  of  God,  who,  they 
hoped,  would  send  the  sun  and  the  rain  which  they 
so  much  needed.  All  along  the  road,  in  the  little 
gardens,  women  and  old  men,  everybody,  were  at 
work,  digging,  planting,  and  watering. 

"  Work  away,  Father  Thiebeau,  and  you  too, 
Mother  Furst.  Courage !  "  cried  I. 

"  Yes,  yes,  Mr.  Joseph,  there  is  need  enougli  for 


8  WATERLOO 

that;  this  blockade  has  put  everything  back,  there 
is  no  time  to  lose." 

The  roads  were  filled  with  carts  and  wagons,  laden 
with  brick  and  lumber  and  materials  for  repairing 
the  houses  and  roofs  which  had  been  destroyed  by 
the  howitzers.  How  the  whips  cracked  and  the 
hammers  rang  in  all  the  country  round!  On  every 
side  carpenters  and  masons  were  'seen  busily  at  work 
on  the  summer  houses.  Father  Ulrich  and  his  three 
boys  were  already  on  the  roof  of  the  "  Flower  Bas- 
ket," which  had  been  broken  to  pieces  by  the  balls, 
strengthening  the  new  timbers,  whistling  and  ham- 
mering in  concert.  What  a  busy  time  it  was,  in- 
deed, when  peace  returned !  They  wanted  no  more 
war  then.  They  knew  the  worth  of  tranquillity,  and 
only  asked  to  repair  their  losses  as  far  as  possible. 
They  knew  that  a  stroke  of  a  saw  or  a  plane  was 
of  more  value  than  a  cannon-shot,  and  how  many 
tears  and  how  much  fatigue  it  would  cost  to  rebuild 
even  in  ten  years,  that  which  the  bombs  had  de- 
stroyed in  ten  minutes.  Oh !  how  happy  I  was  as  I 
went  along.  ~No  more  marches  and  counter-march- 
es; I  did  not  need  the  countersign  from  Sergeant 
Pinto  where  I  was  going!  And  how  sweetly  the 
lark  sang  as  it  soared  tremblingly  upward,  and  the 
quails  whistled  and  linnets  twittered.  The  sweet 
freshness  of  the  morning,  the  fragrant  eglantine  in 


WATERLOO  9 

the  hedges,  urged  me  on  till  I  caught  sight  of  the 
gable  of  the  old  roof  of  Quatre  Vents,  and  the  little 
chimney  with  its  wreath  of  smoke.  "  'Tis  Cath- 
erine who  made  the  fire,"  I  thought,  "  and  she  is 
preparing  our  coffee."  Then  I  would  moderate  my 
steps  in  order  to  get  my  breath  a  little,  while  I 
scanned  the  little  windows  and  laughed  with  antici- 
pated pleasure.  The  door  opens,  and  Mother  Gre- 
del,  with  her  woollen  petticoat  and  a  big  broom  in 
her  hand,  turns  round  and  exclaims  :  "  Here  he  is  ! 
here  he  is  !  "  Then  Catherine  runs  up,  always 
more  and  more  beautiful,  with  her  little  blue  cap, 
and  says  :  "  Ah  !  that  is  good  ;  I  wras  expecting 
thee  !  "  How  happy  she  is,  and  how  I  embrace 
her  !  Ah  !  to  be  young  !  I  see  it  all  again  ! 

I  go  into  the  old  room  with  Catherine,  and  Aunt 
Gredel  flourishes  her  broom  and  exclaims  energeti- 
cally :  "  No  more  conscription — that  is  done  with!" 
"VYe  laugh  heartily  and  sit  down,  and  while  Cath- 
erine looks  at  me,  aunt  commences  again  : 

"  That  beggar  of  a  minister,  has  he  not  written 
yet?  Will  he  never  write,  I  wonder?  Does  he 
take  us  for  brutes?  It  is  very  disagreeable  always 
to  be  ordered  about.  Thou  art  no  longer  a  soldier, 
since  they  left  thee  for  dead.  We  saved  thy  life, 
and  thou  art  nothing  to  them  now." 

"  Certainly,   you   are   right,   Aunt   Gredel,"   I 


I0  WATERLOO 

would  say  ;  "  but  for  all  that  we  cannot  be  married 
without  going  to  the  mayor — without  a  permit — 
and  if  we  do  not  go  to  the  mayor,  the  priest  will  not 
dare  to  marry  us  at  the  church." 

Then  aunt  would  be  very  grave,  and  always  ended 
by  saying  :  "  You  see,  Joseph,  that  all  those  people 
from  first  to  last  have  fixed  everything  to  suit  them- 
selves. Who  pays  the  guards,  and  the  judges,  and 
the  priests,  and  who  is  it  that  pays  everybody  ?  It  is 
we  !  and  yet  they  dare  not  marry  us.  It  is  shame- 
ful ;  and  if  it  goes  on,  we  will  go  to  Switzerland  and 
be  married."  This  would  calm  us,  and  we  would 
spend  the  rest  of  the  day  in  singing  and  laughing. 


n 

IN  spite  of  my  great  impatience  every  day 
brought  something  new,  and  it  comes  back  to  me 
now  like  the  comedies  that  are  played  at  the  fairs. 
The  mayors  and  their  assistants,  the  municipal  coun- 
sellors, the  grain  and  wood  merchants,  the  foresters 
and  field-guards,  and  all  those  people  who  had  been 
for  ten  years  regarded  as  the  best  friends  of  the  Em- 
peror, and  had  been  very  severe  if  any  one  said  a 
word  against  his  majesty,  turned  round  and  de- 
nounced him  as  a  tyrant  and  usurper,  and  called  him 
"  the  ogre  of  Corsica."  You  would  have  thought 
that  Napoleon  had  done  them  some  great  injury, 
when  the  fact  was  that  they  and  their  families  had 
always  had  the  best  offices. 

I  have  often  thought  since,  that  this  is  the  way 
the  good  places  are  obtained  under  all  governments, 
and  still  I  should  be  ashamed  to  abuse  those  who 
could  not  defend  themselves,  and  whom  I  had  a 
thousand  times  flattered.  I  should  prefer  to  remain 
poor  and  work  for  a  living  rather  than  to  gain  riches 

and  consideration  by  such  means.      But  such  are 

xi 


I2  WATERLOO 

men  !  And  I  ought  to  remember  too,  that  our  old 
mayor  and  three  or  four  of  the  counsellors  did  not 
follow  this  example,  and  Mr.  Goulden  said  that  at 
least  they  respected  themselves,  and  that  the  brawl- 
ers had  no  honor. 

I  remember  how,  one  day,  the  Mayor  of  Hacmatt 
had  come  to  have  his  watch  put  in  order  at  our  shop, 
when  he  commenced  to  talk  against  the  Emperor  in 
such  a  way  that  Father  Goulden,  rising  suddenly, 
said  to  him  : 

"  Here,  take  your  watch,  Mr.  Michael,  I  will  not 
work  for  you.  What  !  only  last  year  you  called 
him  constantly  '  the  great  man.'  And  you  never 
could  call  him  Emperor  simply,  but  must  add,  Em- 
peror and  King,  protector  of  the  Helvetic  Confed- 
eration, etc.,  while  your  mouth  was  full  of  beef  ; 
now  you  say  he  is  an  ogre,  and  you  call  Louis 
XVIII.,  '  Louis  the  well-beloved! '  You  ought  to 
be  ashamed  of  yourself  !  Do  you  take  people  for 
brutes?  and  do  you  think  they  have  no  memories?  " 

Then  the  mayor  replied,  "  It  is  plain  to  be  seen 
that  you  are  an  old  Jacobin." 

"  What  I  am  is  nobody's  business,"  replied 
Father  Goulden,  "  but  in  any  case  I  am  not  a  slan- 
derer." He  was  pale  as  death,  and  ended  by  saying, 
"  Go,  Mr.  Michael,  go  !  beggars  are  beggars  under 
all  governments." 


WATERLOO  13 

He  was  so  indignant  that  day  he  could  hardly 
work,  and  would  jump  up  every  minute  and  ex- 
claim : 

"  Joseph,  I  did  like  those  Bourbons,  but  thii 
crowd  of  beggars  has  disgusted  me  with  them  al- 
ready. They  are  the  kind  of  people  who  spoil  ev- 
erything, for  they  declare  everything  perfect, 
beautiful,  and  magnificent  ;  they  see  no  defect  in 
anything,  they  raise  their  hands  to  heaven  in  ad- 
miration if  the  king  but  coughs.  They  want  their 
part  of  the  cake.  And  then,  seeing  their  delight, 
kings  and  emperors  end  by  believing  themselves 
gods,  and  when  revolutions  come,  these  rascals  aban- 
don them,  and  begin  to  play  the  same  role  under 
some  one  else.  In  this  way  they  are  always  at  the 
top,  while  honest  people  are  always  in  trouble." 

This  was  about  the  beginning  of  May,  and  it  had 
been  announced  that  the  King  had  just  made  his 
solemn  entry  into  Paris,  attended  by  the  marshals  of 
the  Empire,  that  nearly  all  the  population  had  come 
out  to  meet  him,  and  that  old  men  and  women  and 
little  children  had  climbed  upon  the  balconies  to 
catch  a  glimpse  of  him,  and  that  he  had  at  first  en- 
tered the  church  of  Notre  Dame  to  give  thanks  to 
God,  and  immediately  after  retired  to  the  Tuileries. 

It  was  announced  also  that  the  Senate  had  pro- 
nounced a  high-sounding  address,  assuring  him 


I4  WATERLOO 

there  need  be  no  alarm  on  account  of  all  the  disturb- 
ances, urging  him  to  take  courage  and  promising  the 
support  of  the  senators  in  case  of  any  difficulties. 

Everybody  approved  this  address.  But  we  were 
soon  to  have  a  new  sight,  we  were  to  witness  the  re- 
turn of  the  emigres  from  the  heart  of  Germany  and 
from  Russia.  Some  returned  by  the  government 
vessels,  and  some  in  simple  "  salad  baskets,"  a  kind 
of  wicker  carriage,  on  two  and  four  wheels.  The 
ladies  wore  dresses  with  immense  flower  patterns, 
and  the  men  wore  the  old  French  coats  and  short 
breeches,  and  waistcoats  hanging  down  to  the  thighs, 
as  they  are  represented  in  the  fashions  of  the  time  of 
the  Republic. 

All  these  people  were  apparently  proud  and  hap- 
py to  see  their  country  once  more.  In  spite  of  the 
miserable  beasts  which  dragged  their  wretched  wag- 
ons filled  with  straw,  and  the  peasants  who  served 
as  postilions — in  spite  of  all  this,  I  was  moved 
with  compassion  as  I  recalled  the  joy  I  felt  five 
months  before  on  seeing  France  again,  and  I  said  to 
toy  self: 

"  Poor  people  !  they  will  weep  on  beholding 
Paris  again,  they  are  going  to  be  happy  !  " 

They  all  stopped  at  the  "  Red  Ox,"  the  hotel  of 
the  old  ambassadors  and  marshals  and  princes  and 
dukes  and  rich  people,  who  no  longer  patronized  it, 


WATERLOO  15 

and  we  could  see  them  in  the  rooms  brushing  their 
own  hair,  dressing  and  shaving  themselves. 

About  noon  they  all  came  down,  shouting  and 
calling  "  John  !  "  "  Claude  !  "  "  Germain  !  " 
with  great  impatience,  and  ordering  them  about  like 
important  personages,  and  seating  themselves 
around  the  great  tables,  with  their  old  servants  all 
patched  up  and  standing  behind  them  with  their 
napkins  under  their  arms.  These  people  with  their 
old-fashioned  clothes,  and  their  fine  manners  and 
happy  air,  made  a  very  good  appearance,  and  we  said 
to  ourselves  :  "  There  are  the  Frenchmen  returning 
from  exile  ;  they  did  wrong  to  go,  and  to  excite  all 
Europe  against  us,  but  there  is  mercy  for  every  sin  ; 
may  they  be  well  and  happy  !  That  is  the  worst  we 
wish  them." 

Some  of  these  emigres  returned  by  post,  and  then 
our  new  mayor,  Mr.  Jourdan,  chevalier  de  St.  Louis, 
the  vicar,  Mr.  Loth,  and  the  new  commandant,  Mr. 
Robert  de  la  Faisanderie,  in  his  embroidered  uni- 
form, would  wait  for  them  at  the  gate,  and  when 
they  heard  the  postilion's  whip  crack  they  would  go 
forward,  smiling  as  if  some  great  good  fortune  had 
arrived,  and  the  moment  the  coach  stopped,  the 
commandant  would  run  and  open  it,  shouting  most 
enthusiastically. 

At  other  times  they  would  stand  quite  still  to 


j6  WATERLOO 

show  their  respect  ;  I  have  seen  these  people  salute 
each  other  three  times  in  succession,  slowly  and 
gravely,  each  time  approaching  a  little  nearer  to 
each  other. 

Father  Goulden  would  laugh  and  say  :  "  Do  you 
see,  Joseph,  that  is  the  grand  style — the  style  of  the 
nobles  of  the  ancien  regime  ;  by  just  looking  out  of 
the  window  we  can  learn  fine  manners  which  may 
serve  us  when  we  get  to  be  dukes  and  princes." 
Again  it  would  be  :  "  Those  old  fellows,  there, 
Joseph,  fired  away  at  us  from  the  lines  at  Wissem- 
bourg,  they  were  good  riders  and  they  fought  well, 
as  all  Frenchmen  do,  but  we  routed  them  after  all." 

Then  he  would  wink  and  go  back  laughing  to  his 
work.  But  the  rumor  spread  among  the  servants 
of  the  "  Red  Ox,"  that  these  people  did  not  hesitate 
to  say  that  they  had  conquered  us,  and  that  they 
were  our  masters  ;  that  King  Louis  XVIII.  had  al- 
ways reigned  since  Louis  XVIL,  son  of  Louis  XVI. ; 
that  we  were  rebels,  and  that  they  had  come  to  re- 
store us  to  order. 

Father  Goulden  did  not  relish  this,  and  said  to 
me  in  an  ill-humored  way  :  "  Do  you  know,  Joseph, 
what  these  people  are  going  to  do  in  Paris?  they  are 
going  to  demand  the  restoration  of  their  ponds  and 
their  forests,  their  parks  and  their  chateaux,  and 
their  pensions,  not  to  speak  of  the  fat  offices  and  hon- 


WATERLOO  I7 

ors  and  favors  of  every  kind.  You  think  their  coats 
and  perukes  very  old-fashioned,  but  their  notions 
are  still  older  than  their  coats  and  perukes.  They 
are  more  dangerous  for  us  than  the  Russians  or  the 
Austrians,  because  they  are  going  away,  but  these 
people  are  going  to  remain.  They  would  like  to  de- 
stroy all  we  have  done  for  the  last  twenty-five  years. 
You  see  how  proud  they  are  ;  though  many  of  them 
lived  in  the  greatest  misery  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Rhine,  yet  they  think  they  are  of  a  different  race 
from  ours — a  superior  race  ;  they  believe  the  people 
are  always  ready  to  let  themselves  be  fleeced  as  they 
were  before  '89.  They  say  Louis  XVIII.  has  good 
sense;  so  much  the  better  for  him,  for  if  he  is  unfort- 
unate enough  to  listen  to  these  people,  if  they  im- 
agine even  that  he  can  act  upon  their  advice,  all  is 
lost.  There  will  be  civil  war.  The  people  have 
thoicght,  during  the  last  twenty-five  years.  They 
know  their  rights,  and  they  know  that  one  man  is  as 
good  as  another,  and  that  all  their  '  noble  races  '  are 
nonsense.  Each  one  wTill  keep  his  property,  each 
one  will  have  equal  rights  and  will  defend  himself 
to  the  death."  That  is  what  Father  Goulden  said 
to  me,  and  as  my  permit  never  came,  I  thought  the 
minister  had  no  time  to  answer  our  demands  with  all 
these  counts  and  viscounts,  these  dukes  and  mar- 
quises at  his  back,  who  were  clamoring  for  their 

2 


!8  WATERLOO 

woods  and  their  ponds  and  their  fat  offices.  I  was 
indignant. 

"  Great  God,"  I  cried,  "  what  misery  !  as  soon 
as  one  misfortune  is  over  another  begins  !  and  it  is 
always  the  innocent  who  suffer  for  the  faults  of  the 
others  !  O  God  !  deliver  us  from  the  nobles,  old 
and  new  !  Crown  them  with  blessings,  but  let  them 
leave  us  in  peace  !  " 

One  morning  Aunt  Gredel  came  in  to  see  us  ;  it 
was  on  Friday  and  market-day.  She  brought  her 
basket  on  her  arm  and  seemed  very  happy.  I  looked 
toward  the  door,  thinking  that  Catherine  was  com- 
ing too,  and  I  said:  "  Good-morning,  Aunt  Gredel; 
Catherine  is  in  town,  she  is  coming  too  ?  " 

"  No  !  Joseph,  no  ;  she  is  at  Quatre  Vents.  We 
are  over  our  ears  in  work  on  account  of  the  plant- 
ing." 

I  was  disappointed  and  vexed  too,  for  I  had  an- 
ticipated seeing  her.  But  Aunt  Gredel  put  her  bas- 
ket on  the  table,  and  said  as  she  lifted  up  the  cover  : 

"  Look  !  here  is  something  for  you,  Joseph,  some- 
thing from  Catherine." 

There  was  a  great  bouquet  of  May  roses,  violets, 
and  three  beautiful  lilacs  with  their  green  leaves 
around  the  edge.  The  sight  of  this  made  me  happy, 
and  I  laughed  and  said:  "  How  sweetly  it  smells." 
And  Father  Goulden  turned  round  and  laughed  too, 
saying  : 


WATERLOO  19 

see,  Joseph,  they  are  always  thinking  of 
you  !  " 

And  we  all  laughed  together.  Md  good-humor 
had  returned,  and  I  kissed  Aunt  Gredel  and  told  her 
to  take  it  to  Catherine  from  me. 

Then  I  put  my  bouquet  in  a  vase  on  the  window- 
gill  by  my  bedside,  and  thought  of  Catherine  going 
out  in  the  early  morning  to  gather  the  violets  and 
the  fresh  roses  and  adding  one  after  the  other  in  the 
dew,  putting  in  the  lilacs  last,  and  the  odor  seemed 
still  more  delightful.  I  could  not  look  at  them 
enough.  I  left  them  on  the  window-sill,  thinking  : 

"  I  shall  enjoy  them  through  the  night,  and  shall 
give  them  fresh  water  in  the  morning,  and  the  next 
day  after  will  be  Sunday  and  I  shall  see  Catherine 
and  thank  her  with  a  kiss." 

I  went  back  into  the  room,  where  Aunt  Gredel 
was  talking  to  Father  Goulden  about  the  markets 
and  the  price  of  grain,  etc.,  both  in  the  best  of 
humor.  Aunt  put  her  basket  on  the  ground  and 
said  : 

"  Well,  Joseph,  ycur  permit  has  not  come  yet?  " 

"  !N"o  !  not  yet,  and  it  is  terrible  !  " 

"  Yes,"  she  replied,  "  the  ministers  are  all  alike, 
one  is  no  better  than  another  ;  they  take  the  worst 
and  laziest  to  fill  that  place." 

Then  she  went  on  :  "  Make  yourself  easy,  I  have 


20 


WATERLOO 


a  plan  which  will  change  all  that."  She  laughed, 
and  as  Father  Goulden  and  I  listened  to  hear  her 
plan,  she  continued  : 

"  Just  now  while  I  was  at  the  town-hall,  Sergeant 
Harmantier  announced  that  we  were  to  have  a  grand 
mass  for  the  repose  of  the  souls  of  Louis  XVI., 
Pichegru,  Moreau,  and — another  one." 

"  Yes,"  interrupted  Father  Goulden,  "  for 
George  Cadoudal, — I  read  it  last  evening  in  the 
gazette." 

"  That  is  it,  of  Cadoudal,"  said  Aunt  Gredel. 
"  You  see,  Joseph,  hearing  that,  I  thought  at  once, 
'  now  we  will  have  the  permit.'  We  are  going  to 
have  processions  and  atonements,  and  we  will  all  go 
together,  Joseph,  Catherine,  and  I.  We  shall  be 
the  first,  and  everybody  will  say,  '  They  are  good 
royalists,  they  are  well  disposed.'  The  priest  will 
hear  of  it.  Now  the  priests  have  long  arms,  as  in 
the  time  of  the  generals  and  colonels, — we  will  go 
and  see  him,  he  will  receive  us  favorably,  and  will 
even  make  a  petition  for  us.  And  I  tell  you  this 
will  succeed,  we  shall  not  fail  this  time." 

She  spoke  quite  low  as  she  explained  all  this,  and 
seemed  well  satisfied  with  her  ingenuity.  I  felt 
happy  too,  and  thought,  "  That  is  what  we  must  do, 
Aunt  Gredel  is  right."  But  on  looking  at  Father 
Goulden,  I  saw  he  was  very  grave,  and  that  he  had 


WATERLOO  21 

turned  away  and  was  looking  at  a  watch  through, 
his  glass,  and  knitting  his  big  white  eyebrows.  So, 
knowing  he  was  not  pleased,  I  said: 

"  I  think  myself,  that  would  succeed,  but  before 
we  do  anything  I  would  like  to  have  Father  Goul- 
den's  opinion." 

Then  he  turned  round  and  said: 

"  Every  one  is  free,  Joseph,  to  follow  his  own 
conscience.  To  make  an  expiation  for  the  death  of 
Louis  XVI.  is  all  very  well;  honest  people  of  all 
parties  will  have  nothing  to  say,  if  they  are  royal- 
ists, of  course;  but  if  you  kneel  from  self-interest, 
you  had  better  stay  at  home.  As  for  Louis  XVI., 
I  will  let  him  pass,  but  for  Pichegru,  Moreau,  and 
Cadoudal, — that  is  altogether  another  thing.  Piche- 
gru surrendered  his  troops  to  the  enemy,  Moreau 
fought  against  France,  and  George  Cadoudal  was  an 
assassin, — three  kinds  of  ambitious  men,  who  asked 
for  nothing  but  to  oppress  us,  and  all  three  deserved 
their  fate.  That  is  \vhat  I  think." 

"  But  what  has  all  that  to  do  with  us,  pray?  "  ex- 
claimed Aunt  Gredel.  "  We  will  not  go  for  them, 
we  will  go  to  get  our  permit.  I  despise  all  the  rest, 
and  so  does  Joseph,  do  you  not  ?  " 

I  was  greatly  embarrassed,  for  what  Father  Goul- 
den  said  seemed  to  me  to  be  right,  and  he,  seeing 
this,  said: 


22  WATERLOO 

"  I  understand  the  love  of  young  people,  Mother 
Gredel,  but  we  must  not  use  such  means  to  induce 
a  young  man  to  sacrifice  what  he  thinks  is  right.  If 
Joseph  does  not  hold  the  same  opinion  as  I  do  of 
Pichegru  and  Moreau  and  Cadoudal,  very  well,  let 
him  go  to  the  procession.  I  shall  not  reproach  him 
for  it,  but  as  for  me,  I  shall  not  go." 

"  I  shall  not  go  either.  Mr.  Goulden  is  right,"  I 
replied. 

I  saw  Aunt  Gredel  was  displeased,  she  turned 
quite  red,  but  was  calm  again  in  a  moment,  and 
added: 

"  Yery  well!  Catherine  and  I  will  go,  because 
we  mock  at  all  those  old  notions." 

Father  Goulden  could  not  help  smiling  as  he 
saw  her  anger. 

"  Yes,  everybody  is  free,"  said  he,  "  to  do  as  he 
pleases,  so  do  as  you  like." 

Aunt  Gredel  took  up  her  basket  and  went  away, 
and  he  laughed  and  made  a  sign  to  me  to  go  with 
her.  I  very  quickly  had  my  coat  on  and  overtook 
her  at  the  corner  of  the  street. 

"  Listen,  Joseph,"  said  she,  as  she  went  toward 
the  square,  "  Father  Goulden  is  an  excellent  man, 
but  he  is  an  old  fool!  He  has  never  since  I  knew 
him  been  satisfied  with  anything.  He  does  not  say 
so,  but  the  Republic  is  always  in  his  head.  He 


WATERLOO  23 

thinks  of  nothing  but  his  old  Republic,  when  every- 
body was  a  sovereign — beggars,  tinkers,  soap-boil- 
ers, Jews,  and  Christians.  There  is  no  sense  in  it. 
But  what  are  we  to  do?  If  he  were  not  such  an  ex- 
cellent man  I  would  not  care  for  him,  but  we  must 
remember  he  has  taught  you  a  good  trade,  and  done 
us  all  many  favors,  and  we  owe  him  great  respect, 
that  is  why  I  hurried  away,  for  I  was  inclined  to  be 
angry." 

"  You  did  right,"  I  said,  "  I  love  Father  Goul- 
den  like  my  father,  and  you  like  my  mother,  and 
nothing  could  give  me  so  much  pain  as  to  see  you 
angry  with  one  another." 

"I  quarrel  with  a  man  like  him!  "  said  Aunt 
Gredel.  "  I  would  rather  jump  out  of  the  window. 
No,  no,  but  we  need  not  listen  to  all  he  says,  for  I 
insist  that  this  procession  is  a  good  thing  for  us, 
that  the  priest  will  get  the  permit  for  us,  and 
that  is  the  principal  thing.  Catherine  and  I  will  go, 
and  as  Mr.  Goulden  will  stay  at  home,  you  had  best 
stay  too.  But  I  am  certain  that  three-fourths  of  the 
town  and  country  round  will  go,  and  whether  it  be 
for  Moreau  or  Pichegru  or  Cadoudal  it  is  of  no  con- 
sequence. It  will  be  very  fine.  You  will  see!  " 

"  I  believe  you,"  I  answered. 

We  had  reached  the  German  gate;  I  kissed  her 
again,  and  went  back  quite  happy  to  my  work. 


in 

I  RECOLLECT  this  visit  of  Aunt  Gredel  because 
eight  days  after  the  processions  and  atonements  and 
sermons  commenced,  and  did  not  end  till  the  return 
of  the  Emperor  in  1815,  and  then  they  commenced 
again  and  continued  till  the  fall  of  Charles  X.  in 
1830.  Everybody  who  was  then  alive  knows  there 
was  no  end  to  them.  So  when  I  think  of  Napoleon, 
I  hear  the  cannon  of  the  arsenal  thunder  and  the 
panes  of  our  windows  rattle,  and  Father  Goulden 
cries  out  from  his  bed :  "  Another  victory,  Joseph ! 
Ha!  ha!  ha!  Always  victories."  And  when  I 
think  of  Louis  XVIII.,  I  hear  the  bells  ring  and  I 
imagine  Eather  Brainstein  and  his  two  big  boys 
hanging  to  the  ropes,  and  I  hear  Eather  Goulden 
laugh  and  say :  "  That,  Joseph,  is  for  Saint  Ma- 
gloire  or  Saint  Polycarp." 

I  cannot  think  of  those  days  in  any  other  way. 

Under  the  Empire  I  see  too  at  nightfall,  Eather 
Coiffe,  Nicholas  Rolf  o,  and  five  or  six  other  veterans, 
loading  their  cannon  for  the  evening  salute  of  twen- 
ty-one guns,  while  half  of  Pfalzbourg  stand  on  the 
24 


WATERLOO  25 

opposite  bastion  looking  at  the  red  light,  and  smoke, 
and  watching  the  wads  as  they  fall  into  the  moat; 
then  the  illuminations  at  night  and  the  crackers  and 
rockets,  I  hear  the  children  cry  Vive  I'Empereur, 
and  then  some  days  after,  the  death  notices  and  the 
conscription.  Under  Louis  XVIII.  I  see  the  altars 
and  the  peasants  with  their  carts  full  of  moss  and 
broom  and  young  pines;  the  ladies  coming  out  of 
their  houses  with  great  vases  of  flowers;  people  car- 
rying their  chandeliers  and  crucifixes,  and  then  the 
processions — the  priest  and  his  vicars,  the  choir 
boys  and  Jacob  Cloutier,  Purrhus,  and  Tribou,  the 
singers;  the  beadle  Koekli,  with  his  red  robe  and  his 
banner  which  swept  the  skies,  the  bells  ringing  their 
full  peals;  Mr.  Jourdan,  the  new  mayor,  with  his 
great  red  face,  his  beautiful  uniform  with  his  cross 
of  St.  Louis,  and  the  commandant  with  his  three- 
cornered  hat  under  his  arm,  his  great  peruke  frosted 
with  powder,  and  his  uniform  glittering  in  the  sun- 
shine, and  behind  them  the  town  council,  and  the 
innumerable  torches,  which  they  lighted  for  each 
other  as  the  wind  blew  them  out;  the  Swiss,  Jean- 
Peter  Sirou,  with  his  blue  beard  closely  shaven  and 
his  splendid  hat  pointing  across  his  shoulders,  his 
broad  white  silk  shoulder-belt  sprinkled  with  fleur- 
de-lis  across  his  breast,  his  halberd  erect,  glistening 
like  a  plate  of  silver;  the  young  girls,  ladies,  and 


26  WATERLOO 

thousands  of  country  people  in  their  Sunday  clothes, 
praying  in  concert  with  the  old  people  at  their  head, 
from  each  village,  who  kept  repeating  incessantly, 
"  pray  for  us,  pray  for  us."  With  the  streets  full 
of  leaves  and  garlands  and  the  white  flags  in  the 
windows,  the  Jews  and  the  Lutherans  looking  out 
from  their  closed  blinds  and  the  sun  lighting  up 
the  grand  sight  below.  This  continued  from  1814 
to  1830,  except  during  the  hundred  days,  not  to 
speak  of  the  missions,  the  bishop's  visits,  and  other 
extraordinary  ceremonies.  I  like  best  to  tell  you 
all  this  at  once,  for  if  I  should  undertake  to  describe 
one  procession  after  another  the  story  would  be  too 
long. 

Well!  this  commenced  the  19th  of  May,  and  the 
same  day  that  Harmentier  announced  the  grand 
atonement,  there  arrived  five  preachers  from  Nancy, 
young  men,  who  preached  during  the  whole  week, 
from  morning  until  midnight.  This  was  to  prepare 
for  the  atonement;  nothing  else  was  talked  about 
in  the  town,  the  people  were  converted,  and  all  the 
women  and  girls  went  to  confession.  It  was  ru- 
mored also  that  the  national  property  was  to  be  re- 
stored, and  that  the  poor  men  would  be  separated 
from  the  respectable  people  by  the  procession,  be- 
cause the  beggars  would  not  dare  to  show  them- 
selves. You  may  imagine  my  chagrin  at  being 


WATERLOO  27 

obliged,  in  spite  of  myself,  to  remain  among  the 
poor  people ;  but,  thank  God !  I  had  nothing  to  re- 
proach myself  with  in  regard  to  the  death  of  Louis 
XVI.,  and  I  had  none  of  the  national  property,  and 
all  I  wanted  was  permission  to  marry  Catherine.  I 
thought  with  Aunt  Gredel  that  Father  Goulden 
was  very  obstinate,  but  I  never  dared  to  say  a  word 
to  him  about  that.  I  was  very  unhappy,  the  more 
so,  because  the  people  who  came  to  us  to  have  their 
watches  repaired,  respectable  citizens,  mayors,  for- 
esters, etc.,  approved  of  all  these  sermons,  and  said 
that  the  like  had  never  been  heard.  Mr.  Goulden 
always  kept  on  his  work  while  listening  to  them, 
and  when  it  was  done  he  would  turn  to  them  and 
say,  "  Here  is  your  watch,  Mr.  Christopher  or  Mr. 
Nicholas;  it  is  so  and  so  much."  He  did  not  seem 
to  be  interested  in  these  matters,  and  it  was  only 
when  one  and  another  would  speak  of  the  national 
property,  of  the  rebellion  of  twenty-five  years,  and 
of  expiating  past  crimes,  that  he  would  take  off  his 
spectacles  and  raise  his  head  to  listen,  and  would 
say  with  an  air  of  surprise,  "  Pshaw !  well !  well ! 
that  is  fine!  that  is,  Mr.  Claude!  indeed  you  as- 
tonish me.  These  young  men  preach  so  well  then  ? 
"Well,  if  the  work  were  not  so  pressing,  I  would  go 
and  hear  them.  I  need  instruction  also." 

I  always  kept  thinking  that  he  would  change  his 


28  WATERLOO 

mind,  and  the  next  evening  as  we  were  finishing  our 
supper  I  was  happy  enough  to  hear  him  say  good- 
humoredly: 

"  Joseph,  are  you  not  curious  to  hear  these 
preachers?  They  tell  so  many  fine  things  of  them, 
that  I  want  to  hear  how  it  is  for  myself." 

"  Oh !  Mr.  Goulden,  I  should  like  nothing  bet- 
ter! but  we  must  lose  no  time,  for  the  church  is 
always  full  by  the  second  stroke  of  the  bell." 

"  Very  well !  let  us  go,"  said  he,  rising  and  tak- 
ing down  his  hat.  "  I  am  curious  to  see  how  it  is. 
Those  people  astonish  me.  Come !  " 

"We  went  out;  the  moon  was  shining  so  brightly 
that  we  could  recognize  people  as  easily  as  in  broad 
daylight.  At  the  corner  of  the  rue  Fouquet  we  saw 
that  even  the  steps  of  the  church  were  already  cov- 
ered with  people.  Two  or  three  old  women,  Ann- 
ette Petit,  Mother  Ealaie,  and  Jeannette  Baltzer, 
with  their  big  shawls  wrapped  closely  round  them, 
and  the  long  fringes  of  their  bonnets  over  their 
eyes,  hurried  past  us,  when  Father  Goulden  ex- 
claimed, "  Here  are  the  old  women!  Ha!  ha!  ha! 
always  the  same !  " 

He  laughed,  and  as  he  went  on  said,  that  since 
Father  Colin's  time  there  had  never  been  so  many 
people  seen  at  the  evening  service.  I  could  not 
believe  that  he  was  speaking  of  the  old  landlord 


WATERLOO  29 

of  the  "  Three  Roses,"  opposite  the  infantry  bar- 
racks, so  I  said : 

"  He  was  a  priest,  Mr.  Goulden?  " 

"  No,  no,"  he  answered  smiling,  "  I  mean  old 
Colin.  In  1792,  when  we  had  a  club  in  the  church, 
everybody  could  preach;  but  Colin  spoke  best  of 
all.  He  had  a  magnificent  voice,  and  said  many 
forcible  and  true  things,  and  the  people  came  from 
far  and  near,  from  Saverne  and  Saarburg,  and  even 
still  farther  away  to  hear  him;  women  and  girls, 
'  citoyennes '  as  they  called  them  then,  filled  the 
choir  galleries  and  the  pews.  They  wore  little  cock- 
ades in  their  bonnets,  and  sang  the  l  Marseillaise ' 
to  arouse  the  young  men.  You  never  saw  anything 
like  it!  Annette  Petit,  Mother  Baltzer,  and  all 
those  whom  you  see  running  before  us,  with  their 
prayer-books  under  their  arms,  were  among  the  fore- 
most. But  they  had  white  teeth  and  beautiful  hair 
then,  and  loved  '  Liberty,  Equality,  and  Fraternity/ 
Ha!  ha!  poor  Bevel!  poor  Annette!  Now  they 
are  going  to  repent,  though  they  were  good  patriots 
then;  I  believe  God  will  pardon  them."  He 
laughed  as  he  recalled  these  old  stories,  but  when  we 
had  reached  the  steps  of  the  church  he  grew  sober, 
and  said : 

"  Yes — yes — everything  changes,  everything !  I 
remember  the  day  in  '93,  when  old  Colin  spoke  of 


3o  WATERLOO 

the  country  being  in  danger,  when  three  hundred 
young  men  left  the  country  to  join  the  army  of 
Hoche;  Colin  followed  them,  and  became  their 
commander.  He  was  a  terrible  fellow  among  his 
grenadiers.  He  would  not  sign  the  proposition  to 
make  Kapoleon  emperor, — now  he  sells  over  the 
counter  by  the  glass!  " 

Then  looking  at  me  as  if  he  were  astonished  at 
his  own  thoughts,  he  said,  "  Let  us  go  in,  Joseph." 

We  entered  under  the  great  pillars  of  the  organ ; 
the  crowd  was  very  great,  and  he  did  not  say  a  word 
more.  There  were  lights  burning  in  the  choir  over 
the  heads  of  the  people.  The  only  sound  which 
broke  the  silence  was  the  opening  and  shutting  of 
the  doors  of  the  pews.  At  last  we  heard  Sirou's  hal- 
berd on  the  floor,  and  Mr.  Goulden  said,  "  There 
he  is!" 

A  light  near  the  vessel  for  the  holy  water  enabled 
us  to  see  a  little.  A  shadow  mounted  to  the  pulpit 
at  the  left,  while  Koskli  lighted  two  or  three  can- 
dles with  his  stick.  The  preacher  might  have  been 
twenty-five  or  thirty  years  old,  he  had  a  pleasant, 
rosy  face  and  heavy  blonde  hair  below  his  tonsure, 
that  fell  in  curls  over  his  neck.  They  commenced 
by  singing  a  psalm,  the  young  girls  of  the  village 
sang  in  the  choir  "  What  joy  to  be  a  Christian." 
After  that  the  preacher  from  the  desk  said,  that  he 


WATERLOO  31 

had  come  to  defend  the  faith,  the  law,  and  the 
"  right  divine  "  of  Louis  XVIII.,  and  demanded  if 
any  one  had  the  audacity  to  take  the  other  side. 
As  nobody  wished  to  be  stoned,  there  was  a  dead 
silence.  Then  a  brown,  thin  man,  six  feet  high, 
with  a  black  cloak  on,  rose  in  one  of  the  pews  op- 
posite, and  exclaimed: 

"I  have!  I  maintain  that  faith,  religion,  and 
the  right  of  kings,  and  all  the  rest,  are  nothing  but 
superstitions.  I  maintain  that  the  republic  is  just, 
and  that  the  worship  of  reason  is  worth  them  all !  " 
and  so  on. 

The  people  were  indignant.  There  never  was 
anything  like  it!  When  he  had  finished  speaking, 
I  looked  at  Mr.  Goulden,  who  laughed  softly,  and 
said:  "Listen!  listen!" 

Of  course  I  listened;  the  young  preacher  prayed 
to  God  for  this  infidel,  and  then  he  spoke  so  beauti- 
fully that  the  crowd  was  entranced.  The  big  thin 
man  replied,  saying,  "  They  had  done  right  to 
guillotine  Louis  XVI. ,  Marie  Antoinette,  and  all 
the  family."  The  indignation  increased,  and  the 
men  from  Bois-de-Chenes,  and  especially  their 
wives,  wanted  to  get  into  the  pew  to  knock  him 
down,  but  just  then  Sirou  came  up,  crying  "  Room ! 
room !  "  and  old  Krekli  in  his  red  gown  threw  him- 
self before  the  man,  who  escaped  into  the  sacristy, 


32  WATERLOO 

raising  his  hands  to  heaven  and  declaring  that  he 
was  converted,  and  that  he  renounced  the  devil  and 
all  his  works.  Then  the  preacher  made  a  prayer 
for  the  soul  of  the  sinner.  It  was  a  real  triumph 
for  religion. 

Everybody  left  about  eleven  o'clock,  and  it  was 
announced  that  there  would  be  a  procession  the  next 
day,  which  was  Sunday. 

In  consequence  of  the  great  crowd,  which  had 
pushed  us  into  the  corner,  Mr.  Goulden  and  I  were 
among  the  last  to  get  out,  and  by  the  time  we 
reached  the  street,  the  people  from  Quatre  Vents 
and  the  other  villages  were  already  beyond  the  Ger- 
man gate,  and  nothing  was  heard  in  the  streets  but 
the  closing  of  the  shutters  by  the  townspeople,  and 
a  few  old  women  talking  about  the  wonderful  things 
they  had  heard,  as  they  went  home  by  the  rue  de 
P Arsenal. 

Father  Goulden  and  I  walked  along  in  the  si- 
lence, he  with  his  head  bent  down  and  smiling, 
though  without  speaking  a  word.  When  we 
reached  home  I  lighted  the  candle,  and  while  he 
was  undressing  asked : 

"  Well !  Father  Goulden,  did  they  preach 
well?" 

:'  Yes,"  he  replied  smiling,  "  yes,  for  young  men 
who  have  seen  nothing,  it  was  not  bad."  Then  he 


WATERLOO  33 

laughed  aloud  and  said,  "  But  if  old  Colin  had  been 
in  the  Jacobin's  place,  he  would  have  puzzled  the 
young  man  terribly."  I  was  greatly  surprised  at 
that,  and  as  I  still  waited  to  hear  what  more  he  had 
to  say,  he  slowly  pulled  his  black  silk  cap  over  his 
ears  and  added  thoughtfully,  "  but  it's  all  the  same.; 
all  the  same.  These  people  go  too  fast,  much  too 
fast.  They  will  never  make  me  believe  that  Louis 
XVIII.  knows  about  all  this.  No,  he  has  seen  too 
much  in  his  life  not  to  know  men  better  than  that. 
But,  good-night,  Joseph,  good-night.  Let  us  hope 
that  an  order  will  soon  arrive  from  Paris  sending 
these  young  men  back  to  their  seminary." 

I  went  to  bed  and  dreamed  of  Catherine,  the 
Jacobin,  and  of  the  procession  we  were  going  to 
see* 


rv 

morning  the  bells  began  to  ring  as  soon  as 
it  was  light.  I  rose  and  opened  my  shutters  and  saw 
the  red  sun  rising  from  behind  the  Magazine,  and 
over  the  forest  of  Bonne-Fontaine.  It  might  have 
been  five  o'clock,  and  you  could  feel  beforehand 
how  hot  it  was  going  to  be,  and  the  air  was  laden 
with  the  odor  of  the  oak  and  beech  and  holly  leaves 
which  were  strewn  in  the  streets.  The  peasants  be- 
gan to  arrive  in  companies,  talking  in  the  still  morn- 
ing. You  could  recognize  the  villagers  from 
"Wechem,  from  Metting,  from  the  Graufthal  and 
Dasenheim,  by  their  three-cornered  hats  turned 
down  in  front  and  their  square  coats,  and  the  women 
with  their  long  black  dresses  and  big  bonnets  quilted 
like  a  mattress  hanging  on  their  necks  ;  and  those 
from  Dagsberg,  Hildehouse,  Harberg,  and  Houpe 
with  their  large  round  felt  hats,  and  the  women 
without  bonnets  and  with  short  skirts,  small,  brown, 
dry,  and  quick  as  powder,  with  the  children  behind 
with  their  shoes  in  their  hands,  but  when  they 
34 


WATERLOO  35 

reached  Luterspech  they  sat  down  in  a  row  and  put 
them  on  to  be  ready  for  the  procession. 

Some  priests  from  the  different  villages,  also  came 
by  twos  and  threes,  laughing  and  talking  among 
themselves  in  the  best  of  humor. 

And  I  thought,  as  I  rested  my  elbows  on  the  win- 
dow-sill, that  these  people  must  have  risen  before 
midnight  to  reach  here  so  early  in  the  morning,  and 
that  they  must  have  come  over  the  mountains  walk- 
ing for  hours  under  the  trees,  crossing  the  little 
bridges  in  the  moonlight  ;  as  I  thought  this  I  re- 
flected that  religion  is  a  beautiful  thing,  that  the 
people  in  towns  do  not  know  what  it  is,  and  that  for 
thousands  upon  thousands  of  field  laborers  and 
wood-choppers,  uncultivated  and  rude  beings,  who  at 
the  same  time  were  good  and  loved  their  wives  and 
children  and  honored  their  aged  parents,  supporting 
them  and  closing  their  eyes  in  the  hope  of  a  better 
world  ;  this  was  the  only  consolation.  And  in  look- 
ing at  the  crowd,  I  imagined  that  Aunt  Gredel  and 
Catherine  had  the  same  thoughts,  and  I  was  happy 
to  know  that  they  prayed  for  me.  It  grew  lighter 
and  lighter,  and  the  bells  rang  while  I  continued  to 
look  on.  I  heard  Father  Goulden  rise  and  dress 
himself,  and  a  few  minutes  after  he  came  into  my 
chamber  in  his  shirt-sleeves,  and  seeing  me  so 
thoughtful,  he  exclaimed  : 


WATERLOO  37 

Because  God  created  the  world  in  six  days  and  rest- 
ed the  seventh  ?  But  we  did  not  create  it  ourselves, 
and  we  need  to  work  to  live.  If  we  shut  our  shop 
from  interest  and  pretend  to  be  saints  and  so  gain 
new  customers,  that  will  be  hypocrisy.  You  speak 
sometimes  without  thinking." 

I  saw  at  once  that  I  was  wrong,  and  I  replied  : 
"  Mr.  Goulden,  we  will  leave  our  windows  open  and 
it  will  be  seen  that  we  have  watches  to  sell,  and  that 
will  do  no  harm  to  any  one." 

We  were  no  sooner  at  table  than  Aunt  Gredel  and 
Catherine  came.  Catherine  was  dressed  entirely  in 
black,  on  account  of  the  service  for  Louis  XVI.  She 
had  a  pretty  little  bonnet  of  black  tulle,  and  her 
dress  was  very  nicely  made,  and  this  set  off  her  deli- 
cate red  and  white  complexion  and  made  her  look  so 
beautiful  that  I  could  hardly  believe  that  she  was 
Joseph  Bertha's  beloved  ;  her  neck  was  white  as 
snow,  and  had  it  not  been  for  her  lips  and  her  rosy 
little  chin,  her  blue  eyes  and  golden  hair,  I  should 
have  thought  that  it  was  some  one  who  resembled 
her,  but  who  was  more  beautiful.  She  laughed 
when  she  saw  how  much  I  admired  her,  and  at  last  I 
said  :  "  Catherine,  you  are  too  beautiful  now  ;  I 
dare  not  kiss  you." 

"  Oh  !  you  need  not  trouble  yourself,"  said  she. 

As  she  leaned  upon  my  shoulder  I  gave  her  a  long 


38  WATERLOO 

kiss,  so  that  Aunt  Gredel  and  Mr.  Goulden  looked 
on  and  laughed,  and  I  wished  them  far  enough 
away,  that  I  might  tell  Catherine  that  I  loved  her 
more  and  more,  and  that  1  would  give  my  life  a 
thousand  times  for  her  ;  but  as  I  could  not  do  that 
before  them,  I  only  thought  of  these  things  and  was 
sad. 

Aunt  had  a  black  dress  on  also,  and  her  prayer- 
book  was  under  her  arm. 

"  Come,  kiss  me  too,  Joseph  ;  you  see  I  too  have 
a  black  dress,  like  Catherine's." 

I  embraced  her,  and  Mr.  Goulden  said,  "  You 
will  come  and  dine  with  us — that  is  understood  ; 
but,  meanwhile  you  will  take  something,  will  you 
not? " 

"  We  have  breakfasted,"  replied  Aunt  Gredel. 

"  That  is  nothing  ;  God  knows  when  this  proces- 
sion will  end,  you  will  be  all  the  time  on  your  feet, 
and  will  need  something  to  sustain  you." 

Then  they  sat  down,  Aunt  Gredel  on  my  right, 
and  Catherine  on  my  left,  and  Father  Goulden  op- 
posite. They  drank  a  good  glass  of  wine,  and  aunt 
said  the  procession  would  be  very  fine,  and  that  there 
were  at  least  twenty-five  priests  from  the  neighbor- 
hood round;  that  Mr.  Hubert,  the  pastor  of  Quatre 
Vents,  had  come,  and  that  the  grand  altar  in  the 
cavalry  quarter  was  higher  than  the  houses  ;  that 


WATERLOO  39 

the  pine-trees  and  poplars  around  had  crape  on 
them,  and  that  the  altar  was  covered  with  a  black 
cloth.  She  talked  of  everything  under  the  sun, 
while  I  looked  at  Catherine,  and  we  thought,  with- 
out saying  anything,  "  Oh  !  when  will  that  beg- 
garly minister  write  and  say,  (  Get  married  and 
leave  me  alone  ? ' 

At  last,  toward  nine  o'clock,  and  when  the  second 
bell  had  rung,  Aunt  Gredel  said,  "  That  is  the  sec- 
ond ringing  ;  we  will  come  to  dinner  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible." 

"  Yes,  yes,  Mother  Gredel,"  replied  Mr.  Gould- 
en,  "  we  will  wait  for  you." 

They  rose,  and  I  went  down  to  the  foot  of  the 
stairs  with  Catherine  in  order  to  embrace  her  once 
again,  when  Aunt  Gredel  cried,  "  Let  us  hurry,  let 
us  hurry  !  " 

They  went  away,  and  I  went  back  to  my  work  ; 
but  from  that  moment  till  about  eleven  o'clock  I 
could  do  nothing  at  all.  The  crowd  was  so  very 
great  that  you  could  hear  nothing  outside  but  a 
ceaseless  murmur  ;  the  leaves  rustled  under  foot, 
and  when  the  procession  left  the  church  the  effect 
was  so  impressive  that  even  Mr.  Goulden  himself 
stopped  his  work  to  listen  to  the  prayers  and  hymns. 

I  thought  of  Catherine  in  the  crowd  more  beauti- 
ful than  any  of  the  others,  with  Aunt  Gredel  near 


40 


WATERLOO 


her,  repeating  "  Pray  for  us,  pray  for  us,"  in  their 
clear  voices.  I  thought  they  must  be  very  much 
fatigued,  and  all  these  voices  and  chants  made  me 
dream,  and  though  I  held  a  watch  in  my  hand  and 
tried  to  work,  my  mind  was  not  on  it.  The  higher 
the  sun  rose  the  more  uneasy  I  became,  till  at  last 
Mr.  Goulden  said,  laughing,  "  Ah  !  Joseph,  it  does 
not  go  to-day  !  "  and  as  I  blushed  rosy  red,  he  con- 
tinued, "  Yes,  when  I  was  dreaming  of  Louisa 
Benedum  I  looked  in  vain  for  springs  and  wheels. 
I  could  see  nothing  but  her  blue  eyes." 

He  sighed,  and  I  too,  thinking,  "  you  are  quite 
right,  Mr.  Goulden." 

"  That  is  enough,"  he  added  a  moment  after,  tak- 
ing the  watch  from  my  hands.  "  Go,  child,  and 
find  Catherine.  You  cannot  conquer  your  love,  it 
is  stronger  than  you." 

On  hearing  this,  I  wanted  to  exclaim  "  Oh,  good, 
excellent  man  !  you  can  never  know  how  much  I 
love  you,"  but  he  rose  to  wipe  his  hands  on  a  towel 
behind  the  door,  and  I  said,  "  If  you  really  wish  it 
Mr.  Goulden." 

"  Yes,  yes  ;  certainly  !  " 

I  did  not  wait  for  another  word.  My  heart 
bounded  with  joy,  I  put  on  my  hat  and  went  down 
the  stairs  at  a  leap,  exclaiming,  "  I  will  be  back  in 
an  hour,  Mr.  Goulden." 


WATERLOO  41 

I  was  out  of  doors  in  a  moment,  but  what  a  crowd, 
what  a  crowd  !  they  swarmed  !  military  hats,  felt 
hats,  bonnets,  and  over  all  the  noise  and  confusion, 
the  church  bell  tolled  slowly. 

For  a  minute  I  stood  on  our  own  steps,  not  know- 
ing which  way  to  turn,  and  seeing  at  last  that  it  was 
impossible  to  take  a  step  in  that  crowd  I  turned  into 
the  little  lane  called  the  Lanche,  in  order  to  reach 
the  ramparts  and  run  and  wait  for  the  procession  at 
the  slope  by  the  German  gate,  as  then  it  would  turn 
up  the  rue  de  College.  It  might  have  been  eleven 
o'clock.  I  saw  many  things  that  day  which  have 
suggested  many  reflections  since  ;  they  were  the 
signs  of  great  trouble  but  nobody  noticed  them,  no- 
body had  the  good  sense  to  comprehend  their  sig- 
nificance. It  was  only  later,  when  everybody  was 
up  to  their  necks  in  trouble,  when  we  were  obliged 
to  take  our  knapsacks  and  guns,  again  to  be  cut  in 
pieces  ;  then  they  said,  "  if  we  had  only  had  good 
sense  and  justice  and  prudence  we  should  have  been 
so  much  better  off,  we  should  have  been  quiet  at 
home  instead  of  this  breaking  up,  which  is  coming  ; 
we  can  do  nothing  but  be  quiet  and  submit  ;  what  a 
misfortune  !  " 

I  went  along  the  Lanche,  where  they  shot  the  de- 
serters under  the  Empire.  The  noise  grew  fainter 
in  the  distance,  and  the  chanting  and  prayers  and 


4z  WATERLOO 

the  sound  of  the  bells  as  well.  All  the  doors  and 
windows  were  closed,  everybody  had  followed  the 
procession.  I  stopped  in  the  silent  street  to  take 
breath,  a  slight  breeze  came  from  the  fields  beyond 
the  ramparts,  and  I  listened  to  the  tumult  in  the  dis- 
tance and  wiped  the  sweat  from  my  face  and 
thought,  "  how  am  I  to  find  Catherine?  " 

I  was  climbing  the  steps  at  the  postern  gate  when 
I  heard  some  one  say  :  "  Mark  the  points,  Mar- 
garot." 

I  then  saw  that  Father  Colin's  windows  on  the 
first  floor  were  open,  and  that  some  men  in  their 
shirt-sleeves  were  playing  billiards.  They  were  old 
soldiers  with  short  hair,  and  mustaches  like  a  brush. 
They  went  back  and  forth,  without  troubling  them- 
selves about  the  mayor,  or  the  commandant,  or 
Louis  XVI.,  or  the  bourgeoisie.  One  of  them,  short, 
thick,  with  his  whiskers  cut  as  was  the  fashion  of  the 
hussars  in  those  days,  and  his  cravat  untied,  leaned 
out  of  the  window,  resting  his  cue  on  the  sill,  and, 
looking  toward  the  square,  said  : 

"  We  will  put  the  game  at  fifty." 

I  thought  at  once  that  they  were  half -pay  officers, 
who  were  spending  their  last  sous,  and  who  would 
soon  be  troubled  to  live.  I  continued  on  my  way, 
and  hurried  along  under  the  vault  of  the  powder 
magazine  behind  the  college,  thinking  of  all  these 


WATERLOO  43 

tilings,  but  when  I  reached  the  German  gate  I  for- 
got everything.  The  procession  was  just  turning 
the  corner  at  Bockholtz,  the  chants  broke  forth  op- 
posite the  altar  like  trumpets,  and  the  young  priests 
from  Nancy  were  running  among  the  crowd  with 
their  crucifixes  raised  to  keep  order,  and  the  Swiss 
Sirou  carried  himself  majestically  under  his  ban- 
ner; at  the  head  of  the  procession  were  the  priests 
and  the  choir  singing,  while  the  prayers  rose  to 
heaven,  and  behind,  the  crowd  responded  :  and  all 
this  took  form,  in  a  low  fearful  murmur. 

I  stood  on  my  tiptoes,  half  hidden  by  the  shed, 
trying  to  discover  Catherine  in  all  that  multitude 
and  thinking  only  of  her,  but  what  a  crowd  of  hats 
and  bonnets  and  flags  I  saw  defiling  down  the  rue 
Ulrich.  You  would  never  have  imagined  that  there 
were  so  many  people  in  the  country  ;  there  could 
not  have  been  a  soul  left  in  the  villages,  except  a  few 
little  children  and  old  people  who  stayed  to  take 
care  of  them. 

I  waited  about  twenty  minutes,  and  gave  up  hop- 
ing to  find  Catherine,  when  suddenly  I  saw  her  with 
Aunt  Gredel.  Aunt  was  praying  in  such  a  loud 
clear  voice,  that  you  could  hear  her  above  all  the 
others.  Catherine  said  nothing,  but  walked  slowly 
along  with  her  eyes  cast  down.  If  I  could  only  have 
called  to  her  she  might  perhaps  have  heard  me,  but 


44  WATERLOO 

it  was  bad  enough  not  to  join  the  procession  without 
causing  further  scandal.  All  I  can  say  is, — and 
there  is  not  an  old  man  in  Pfalzbourg  who  will  as- 
sert the  contrary, — that  Catherine  was  not  the  least 
beautiful  girl  in  the  country,  and  that  Joseph  Ber- 
tha was  not  to  be  pitied. 

She  had  passed,  and  the  procession  halted  on  the 
"  Place  d'armes,"  before  the  high  altar  at  the  right 
of  the  church.  The  priest  officiated,  and  silence 
spread  all  over  the  city.  In  the  little  streets  at  the 
right  and  the  left,  it  was  as  quiet  as  if  they  could 
have  seen  the  priest  at  the  altar,  great  numbers 
kneeled,  and  others  sat  down  on  the  steps  of  the 
houses,  for  the  heat  was  excessive,  and  many  of  them 
had  come  to  town  before  daylight.  This  grand 
sight  impressed  me  very  much,  and  I  prayed  for  my 
country  and  for  peace,  for  I  felt  it  all  in  my  heart, 
and  I  remember  that  just  then  I  heard  under  the 
shed  at  the  German  gate,  voices  which  said  very 
good-humoredly,  "  Come,  come,  give  us  a  little 
room,  my  friends." 

The  procession  blocked  the  way,  everybody  was 
stopped,  and  these  voices  disturbed  the  kneeling 
multitude.  Several  persons  near  the  door  made 
way.  The  Swiss  and  the  beadle  looked  on  from  a 
distance,  and  my  curiosity  induced  me  to  get  a  little 
nearer  the  steps,  when  I  saw  five  or  six  old  soldiers 


WATERLOO  45 

white  with  dust,  bent  down  and  apparently  exhaust- 
ed with  fatigue,  making  their  way  along  the  slope 
in  order  to  gain  the  little  rue  d' Arsenal,  through 
which  they  no  doubt  thought  to  find  the  way  clear. 
It  seems  as  if  I  could  see  them  now,  with  their  worn- 
out  shoes  and  their  white  gaiters,  and  their  old 
patched  uniforms  and  shakos  battered  by  the  sun 
and  rain  and  the  hardships  of  the  campaign.  They 
advanced  in  file,  a  little  on  the  grass  of  the  slope  in 
order  to  disturb  the  people  who  Avere  below  as  little 
as  possible.  One  old  fellow  with  three  chevrons, 
who  marched  ahead  and  resembled  poor  Sergeant 
Pinto  who  was  killed  near  the  Hiuterthor  at  Leip- 
zig, made  me  feel  very  sad.  He  had  the  same  long, 
gray  mustaches,  the  same  wrinkled  cheeks,  and  the 
same  contented  air  in  spite  of  all  his  misfortunes 
and  sufferings.  He  had  his  little  bundle  on  the  end 
of  his  stick,  and  smiling  and  speaking  quite  low  he 
said,  "Excuse  us,  gentlemen  and  ladies,  excuse  us," 
while  the  others  followed  step  by  step. 

They  were  the  first  prisoners  released  by  the 
convention  of  the  23d  of  April,  and  we  saw  these 
men  pass  afterward  every  day  until  July.  They 
had  no  doubt  avoided  the  magazines,  in  order  the 
sooner  to  reach  France. 

On  reaching  the  little  street  they  found  the  crowd 
extended  beyond  the  arsenal ;  and  then  in  order  not 


46  WATERLOO 

to  disturb  the  people,  they  went  under  the  postern 
and  sat  down  on  the  damp  steps,  with  their  little 
bundles  on  the  ground  beside  them,  and  waited  for 
the  procession  to  pass.  They  had  come  from  a  great 
distance,  and  hardly  knew  what  was  going  on  with 
us. 

Unhappily  the  wretches  from  Bois-de-Chenes,  the 
big  Horni,  Zapheri  Roller,  Nicholas  Cochart,  the 
carder,  Pinacle,  whom  they  had  made  mayor  to  pay 
him  for  having  shown  the  way  to  Falberg  and 
Graufthal  to  the  allies  during  the  siege,  all  these 
rascals  and  others  who  were  with  them,  who  wanted 
the  fleur-de-lis — as  if  the  fleur-de-lis  could  make 
them  any  better — unhappily,  I  say,  all  that  bad  set 
who  lived  by  stealing  fagots  from  the  forest,  had 
discovered  the  old  tri-colored  cockade  in  the  tops  of 
their  shakos,  and  "  now,"  they  thought,  "  is  the 
time  to  prove  ourselves  the  real  supporters  of  the 
throne  and  the  altar." 

They  came  on  disturbing  everybody,  Pinacle  had 
a  big  black  cravat  on  his  neck  and  a  crape,  an  ell 
wide,  on  his  hat,  with  his  shirt  collar  above  his  ears, 
and  as  grave  as  a  bandit  who  wants  to  make  himself 
look  like  an  honest  man  ;  he  came  up  the  first  one. 
The  old  soldier  with  the  three  chevrons  had  discov- 
ered that  these  men  were  threatening  them  at  a  dis- 
tance and  had  risen  to  see  what  it  meant 


M.   PINACLE   AND  THE  BARAQUIN3. 


WATERLOO  47 

"  Come,  come  !  don't  crowd  so  !  "  said  he  "  We 
are  not  much  in  the  habit  of  running,  what  do  you 
want?" 

But  Pinacle,  who  was  afraid  of  losing  so  good  an 
occasion  to  show  his  zeal  for  Louis  XVIII.,  instead 
of  replying  to  him,  smashed  his  shako  at  a  blow, 
shouting,  "  Down  with  the  cockade  !  " 

Naturally  the  old  veteran  was  indignant  and  was 
about  to  defend  himself,  when  these  wretches,  both 
men  and  women,  fell  upon  the  soldiers,  knocking 
them  down,  pulling  off  their  cockades  and  epaulets, 
and  trampling  them  under  foot  without  shame  or 
pity. 

The  poor  old  fellow  got  up  several  times,  ex- 
claiming, in  a  voice  which  went  to  one's  heart, 
"  Pack  of  cowards,  are  you  Frenchmen,  assassins, 
etc.,  etc." 

Every  time  he  rose  they  beat  him  down  again,  and 
at  last  left  him  with  his  clothes  torn,  and  covered 
with  blood  in  a  corner,  and  the  commandant,  de  la 
Faisanderie,  having  arrived,  ordered  them  to  be  es- 
corted to  the  "  Violin."  If  I  had  been  able  to  get 
down,  I  should  have  run  to  the  rescue,  without 
thinking  of  Catherine  or  Aunt  Gredel  or  Mr.  Gould- 
en,  and  they  might -have  killed  me  too.  When  I 
think  of  it  now  even,  I  tremble,  but  fortunately  the 
wall  of  the  postern  was  twenty  feet  thick,  and  when 


48  WATERLOO 

I  saw  them  carried  away  covered  with  blood,  and 
comprehended  the  whole  horrible  affair,  I  ran  home 
by  way  of  the  arsenal,  where  I  arrived  so  pale  that 
Father  Goulden  exclaimed  : 

"  Why,  Joseph  !  have  you  been  hurt?  " 

"  No,  no,"  I  replied,  "  but  I  have  seen  a  fright- 
ful thing."  And  I  commenced  to  cry  as  I  told  him 
of  the  affair.  He  walked  up  and  down  with  his 
hands  behind  his  back,  stopping  from  time  to  time 
to  listen  to  me,  while  his  lips  contracted  and  his  eyes 
sparkled. 

"  Joseph,"  said  he,  "  these  men  provoked 
them?" 

"  No,  Mr.  Goulden." 

"  It  is  impossible,  they  must  have  invited  it.  The 
devil  !  we  are  not  savages  !  The  rascals  must  have 
had  some  other  reason  than  the  cockades  for  attack- 
ing them  !  " 

He  could  not  believe  me,  and  it  was  only  after 
telling  him  all  the  details  twice  over  that  he  said  at 
last  : 

"  Well  !  since  you  saw  it  with  your  own  eyes  I 
must  believe  you.  But  it  is  a  greater  misfortune 
than  you  think,  Joseph.  If  this  goes  on,  if  they  do 
not  put  a  strong  check  on  these  good-for-nothings,  if 
the  Pinacles  are  to  have  the  upper  hand,  honest  peo- 
ple will  open  their  eyes." 


WATERLOO  49 

He  said  no  more,  for  the  procession  was  finished 
and  Aunt  Gredel  and  Catherine  had  come. 

We  dined  together,  aunt  was  happy  and  Cathe- 
rine too,  but  even  the  pleasure  it  gave  me  to  see  them, 
could  not  make  me  forget  what  I  had  witnessed,  and 
Mr.  Goulden  was  very  grave  too. 

At  night,  I  went  with  them  to  the  "  Roulette," 
and  then  I  embraced  them  and  bade  them  good- 
night. It  might  have  been  eight  o'clock,  and  I 
went  home  immediately.  Mr.  Goulden  had  gone 
to  the  "  Homme  Sauvage  "  brewery,  as  was  his 
habit  on  Sunday,  to  read  the  gazette,  and  I  went  to 
bed.  He  came  in  about  ten,  and  seeing  my  candle 
burning  on  the  table,  he  pushed  open  the  door  and 
said  : 

"  It  seems  that  they  are  having  processions  every- 
where. You  see  nothing  else  in  the  gazette."  And 
he  added  that  twenty  thousand  prisoners  had  re- 
turned, and  that  it  was  a  happy  thing  for  the  coun- 
try. 


THE  next  morning  all  the  clocks  in  the  Tillage 
•were  to  he  wound  up,  and  as  Mr.  Goulden  was  grow- 
ing old  he  had  intrusted  that  to  me,  and  I  went  out 
very  early.  The  wind  had  blown  the  leaves  in 
heaps  against  the  walls  during  the  night,  and  the 
people  were  coming  to  take  their  torches  and  vases 
of  flowers  from  the  altars.  All  this  made  me  sad, 
and  I  thought, ."  Kow  that  they  have  performed 
their  service  for  the  dead,  I  hope  they  are  satisfied. 
If  the  permit  would  come,  it  would  be  all  very  well, 
but  if  these  people  think  they  are  going  to  amuse  us 
with  psalms  they  are  mistaken.  In  the  time  of  the 
Emperor  we  had  to  go  to  Russia  and  Spain  it  is  true, 
but  the  ministers  did  not  leave  the  young  people  to 
pine  away.  I  would  like  to  know  what  peace  is  for 
if  it  is  not  to  get  married  !  " 

I  denounced  Louis  XYHL,  the  Comte  d'Artois, 
the  emigres,  and  everybody  else,  and  declared  that 
the  nobles  mocked  the  people. 

On  going  home  I  found  that  Mr.  Goulden  had  set 
the  table,  and  while  we  were  eating  breakfast,  I  told 


WATERLOO  51 

him  what  I  thought.  He  listened  to  my  complaint 
and  laughed,  saying,  "  Take  care,  Joseph,  take 
care  ;  you  seem  to  me  as  if  you  were  becoming  a 
Jacobin." 

He  got  up  and  opened  the  closet,  and  I  thought 
he  was  going  to  take  out  a  bottle,  but,  instead,  he 
handed  me  a  thick  square  envelope  with  a  big  red 
seal. 

"  Here,  Joseph,"  said  he,  "  is  something  that 
Brigadier  Werner  charged  me  to  give  you." 

I  felt  my  heart  jump  and  I  could  not  see  clearly. 

"  Why  don't  you  open  it?  "  said  Father  Goulden. 

I  opened  it  and  tried  to  read,  but  had  to  take  a 
little  time.  At  last  I  cried  out,  "  It  is  the  permit." 

"  Do  you  believe  it  ?"  said  he. 

"  Yes,  it  is  the  permit,"  I  said,  holding  it  at  arm's 
length. 

"  Ah  !  that  rascal  of  a  minister,  he  has  sent  no 
others,"  said  Father  Goulden. 

"  But,"  I  said,  "  I  know  nothing  of  politics, 
since  the  permit  has  come,  the  rest  does  not  con- 
cern me." 

He  laughed  aloud,  saying,  "  Good,  Joseph, 
good  !  " 

I  saw  that  he  was  laughing  at  me,  but  I  did  not 
care. 

"  We  must  let  Catherine  and  Aunt  Gredel  know 


52 


WATERLOO 


immediately,"  I  cried  in  the  joy  of  my  heart ;  "  we 
must  send  Chaudron's  boy  right  away." 

"  Ha  !  go  yourself,  that  will  be  better,"  said  the 
good  man. 

"  But  the  work,  Mr.  Goulden?  " 

"  Pshaw  !  pshaw  !  at  a  time  like  this  one  for- 
gets work  !  Go  !  child,  stir  yourself,  how  could 
you  work  now  ?  You  cannot  see  clearly." 

It  was  true  I  could  do  nothing.  I  was  so  happy 
that  I  cried,  I  embraced  Mr.  Goulden,  and  then 
without  taking  time  to  change  my  coat  I  set  off,  and 
was  so  absorbed  by  my  happiness,  that  I  had  gone 
far  beyond  the  German  gate,  the  bridge  and  the 
outworks  and  the  post  station,  and  it  was  only  when 
I  was  within  a  hundred  yards  of  the  village  and  saw 
the  chimney  and  the  little  windows  that  I  recalled 
it  all  like  a  dream,  and  commenced  to  read  the  per- 
mit again,  repeating,  "  It  is  true,  yes,  it  is  true  ; 
what  happiness  !  what  will  they  say  !  " 

I  reached  the  house  and  pushed  open  the  door  ex- 
claiming, "  The  permit  !  " 

Aunt  Gredel  in  her  sabots  was  just  sweeping  the 
kitchen,  and  Catherine  was  coming  downstairs  with 
her  arms  bare,  and  her  blue  kerchief  crossed  over  her 
breast  ;  she  had  been  to  the  garret  for  chips,  and 
both  of  them  on  seeing  me  and  hearing  me  cry,  "  the 
permit  !  "  stood  stock  still.  But  I  repeated,  "  the 


WATERLOO  53 

permit  !  "  and  Aunt  Gredel  threw  up  her  hands  as 
I  had  done,  exclaiming,  "  Long  live  the  King  !  " 

Catherine,  quite  pale,  was  leaning  against  the  side 
of  the  staircase  ;  1  was  at  her  side  in  an  instant  and 
embraced  her  so  heartily  that  she  leaned  on  my 
shoulder  and  cried,  and  I  carried  her  down,  so  to 
speak,  while  aunt  danced  round  us,  exclaiming, 
"  Long  live  the  King  !  long  live  the  Minister  !  " 

There  was  never  anything  like  it.  The  old  black- 
smith, Ruppert,  with  his  leather  apron  on  and  his 
shirt  open  at  the  throat,  came  in  to  ask  what  had 
happened. 

"  What  is  it,  neighbor?  "  said  he,  as  he  held  his 
big  tongs  in  his  hands  and  opened  his  little  eyes  as 
wide  as  possible. 

This  calmed  us  a  little,  and  I  answered,  "  "We 
have  received  our  permit  to  marry." 

"  Ah,  that  is  it?  is  it?  now  I  understand,  I  un- 
derstand." 

He  had  left  the  door  open  and  five  or  six  other 
neighbors  came  in — Anna  Schmoutz,  the  spinner, 
Christopher  Wagner,  the  field-guard,  Zapheri  Gross, 
and  several  others,  till  the  room  was  full.  I  read 
the  permit  aloud  ;  everybody  listened,  and  when  it 
was  finished  Catherine  began  to  cry  again,  and  Aunt 
Gredel  said  : 

"  Joseph,  that  minister  is  the  best  of  men.     If  he 


54 


WATERLOO 


were  here,  I  would  embrace  him  and  invite  him  to 
the  wedding  ;  he  should  have  the  place  of  honor 
next  Mr.  Goulden." 

Then  the  women  went  off  to  spread  the  news,  and 
I  commenced  my  declarations  anew  to  Catherine,  as 
if  the  old  ones  went  for  nothing  ;  and  I  made  her 
repeat  a  thousand  times  that  she  had  never  loved 
any  one  but  me,  till  we  cried  and  laughed,  and 
laughed  and  cried,  one  after  the  other,  till  night. 
"We  heard  Aunt  Gredel,  as  she  attended  to  the  cook- 
ing, talking  to  herself  and  saying,  "  That  is  what  I 
call  a  good  king;  "  or,  "  If  my  good  Franz  could 
come  back  to  the  earth  he  would  be  happy  to-day, 
but  one  cannot  have  everything."  She  said,  also, 
that  the  procession  had  done  us  good  ;  but  Cath- 
erine and  I  were  too  happy  to  answer  a  word.  We 
dined,  and  lunched,  and  took  supper  without  seeing 
or  hearing  anything,  and  it  was  nine  o'clock  when  I 
suddenly  perceived  it  was  time  to  go  home.  Cath- 
erine and  Aunt  Gredel  and  I  went  out  together,  the 
moon  was  shining  brightly,  and  they  went  with  me 
to  the  "  Koulette,"  and  while  on  the  way  we  agreed 
that  the  marriage  should  take  place  in  fifteen  days. 
At  the  farm-house,  under  the  poplars,  aunt  kissed 
me,  and  I  kissed  Catherine,  and  then 'watched  them 
as  they  went  back  to  the  village.  "When  they 
reached  home  they  turned  and  kissed  their  hands  to 


WATERLOO  55 

me,  and  then  I  came  back  to  town,  crossed  the  great 
square,  and  got  home  about  ten  o'clock.  Mr. 
Goulden  was  awake  though  in  bed,  and  he  heard  me 
open  the  door  softly.  I  had  lighted  my  lamp  and 
was  going  to  my  chamber,  when  he  called,  "  Jo- 
seph!" 

I  went  to  him,  and  he  took  me  in  his  arms  and  we 
kissed  each  other,  and  he  said  : 

"  It  is  well,  my  child  ;  you  are  happy,  and  you 
deserve  to  be.  Now  go  to  bed,  and  to-morrow  we 
will  talk  about  it." 

I  went  to  bed,  but  it  was  long  before  I  could  sleep 
soundly.  I  wakened  every  moment,  thinking,  "  Is 
it  really  true  that  the  permit  has  come  ?  "  Then  I 
would  say  to  myself,  "  Yes  ;  it  is  true."  But  to- 
ward morning  I  slept.  When  I  wakened  it  was 
broad  day,  and  I  jumped  out  of  bed  to  dress  myself, 
when  Father  Goulden  called  out,  as  happy  as  pos- 
sible, "  Come,  Joseph,  come  to  breakfast." 

"  Forgive  me,  Mr.  Goulden,"  I  replied  ;  "  I  was 
so  happy  I  could  hardly  sleep." 

"  Yes,  yes,  I  heard  you,"  he  answered  and  we 
went  into  the  workshop,  where  the  table  was  al- 
ready laid. 


YI 

AFTER  the  joy  of  marrying  Catherine,  my  great- 
est delight  was  in  thinking  I  should  be  a  tradesman, 
for  there  was  a  great  difference  between  fighting  for 
the  King  of  Prussia  and  doing  business  on  one's  own 
account.  Mr.  Goulden  had  told  me  he  would  take 
me  into  partnership  with  him,  and  I  imagined  my- 
self taking  my  little  wife  to  mass  and  then  going  for 
a  walk  to  the  Roche-plate  or  to  Bonne-Fontaine. 
This  gave  me  great  pleasure.  In  the  meantime  I 
went  every  day  to  see  Catherine  ;  she  would  wait 
for  me  in  the  orchard,  while  Aunt  Gredel  prepared 
the  little  cakes  and  the  bride's  loaf  for  the  wedding. 
We  did  nothing  but  look  at  each  other  for  hours  to- 
gether ;  she  was  so  fresh  and  joyous  and  grew  pret- 
tier every  day. 

Mr.  Goulden  would  say  on  seeing  me  come  home 
happier  every  night,  "  Well  !  Joseph,  matters  seem 
to  be  better  than  when  we  were  at  Leipzig  !  " 

Sometimes  I  wanted  to  go  to  work  again,  but  he 
always  stopped  me  by  saying,  "  Oh  !  pshaw  ! 
happy  days  in  life  are  so  few.  Go  and  see  Cath- 
56 


WATERLOO  57 

erine,  go !  If  I  should  take  a  fancy  to  be  married  try 
and  by,  you  can  work  for  us  both."  And  then  he 
would  laugh.  Such  men  as  he  ought  to  live  a  hun- 
dred years,  such  a  good  heart  !  so  true  and  honest  ! 
He  was  a  real  father  to  us.  And  even  now,  after  so 
many  years,  when  I  think  of  him  with  his  black  silk 
cap  drawn  over  his  ears,  and  his  gray  beard  eight 
days  old,  and  the  little  wrinkles  about  his  eyes  show- 
ing so  much  good-humor,  it  seems  to  me  that  I  still 
hear  his  voice  and  the  tears  will  come  in  spite  of  me. 

But  I  must  tell  you  here  of  something  which  hap- 
pened before  the  wedding  and  which  I  shall  never 
forget.  It  was  the  6th  of  July  and  we  were  to  be 
married  on  the  8th.  I  had  dreamed  of  it  all  night. 
I  rose  between  six  and  seven.  Father  Goulden  was 
already  at  work,  with  the  windows  open.  I  was 
washing  my  face  and  thinking  I  would  run  over  to 
Quatre  Vents,  when  all  at  once  a  bugle  and  two  taps 
of  a  drum  were  heard  at  the  gate  of  France,  just 
as  when  a  regiment  arrives,  they  try  their  mouth- 
pieces, and  tap  their  drums  just  to  get  the  sticks  well 
in  hand.  When  I  heard  that  my  hair  stood  on  end, 
and  I  exclaimed,  "  Mr.  Goulden,  it  is  the  Sixth  !  " 

"  Yes,  indeed,  for  eight  days  everybody  has  been 
talking  about  it,  but  you  hear  nothing  in  these  days. 
It  is  the  wedding  bouquet,  Joseph,  and  I  wanted  to 
surprise  you." 


58  WATERLOO 

I  listened  no  longer,  but  went  downstairs  at  a 
jump.  Our  old  drummer  Padoue  had  already  lift- 
ed his  stick  under  the  dark  arch,  and  the  drummers 
came  up  behind  balancing  their  drums  on  their  hips; 
in  the  distance  was  Gemeau,  the  commandant,  on 
horseback,  the  red  plumes  of  the  grenadiers  and  the 
bayonets  came  up  slowly  ;  it  was  the  Third  bat- 
talion. The  march  commenced,  and  my  blood 
bounded.  I  recognized  at  the  first  glance  the  long 
gray  cloaks  which  we  had  received  on  the  22d  of 
October,  on  the  glacis  at  Erfurth  ;  they  had  be- 
come quite  green  from  the  snow  and  wind  and  rain. 
It  was  worse  than  after  the  battle  of  Leipzig.  The 
old  shakos  were  full  of  ball  holes,  only  the  flag  was 
new,  in  its  beautiful  case  of  oil-cloth,  with  the  fleur- 
de-lis  at  the  end. 

Ah  !  only  those  who  have  made  a  campaign  can 
realize  what  it  is  to  see  your  regiment  and  to  hear  the 
same  roll  of  the  drum  as  when  it  is  in  front  of  the 
enemy,  and  to  say  to  yourself,  "  There  are  your 
comrades,  who  return  beaten,  humiliated,  and 
crushed,  bowing  their  heads  under  another  cock- 
ade." No  !  I  never  felt  anything  like  it.  Later 
many  of  the  men  of  the  Sixth  came  and  settled  down 
at  Pfalzbourg,  they  were  my  old  officers,  old 
sergeants,  and  were  always  welcome,  there  was  La- 
fleche,  Carabin,  Lavergne,  Monyot,  Padoue,  Chazi, 


WATERLOO  59 

and  many  others.  Those  who  commanded  me  dur- 
ing the  war  sawed  wood  for  me,  put  on  tiles,  were 
my  carpenters  and  masons.  After  giving  me  or- 
ders they  obeyed  me,  for  I  was  independent,  and 
had  business,  while  they  were  simply  laborers.  But 
that  was  nothing,  and  I  always  treated  my  old  chiefs 
with  respect,  I  always  thought,  "  at  Weissenfels, 
at  Lutzen,  and  at  Leipzig,  these  men  who  now  are 
forced  to  labor  so  hard  to  support  themselves  and 
their  families,  represented  at  the  front  the  honor  and 
the  courage  of  France."  These  changes  came  after 
Waterloo  !  and  our  old  Ensign  Faizart,  swept  the 
bridge  at  the  gate  of  France  for  fifteen  years  !  That 
is  not  right,  A,he  country  ought  to  be  more  grateful. 

It  was  the  Third  battalion  that  returned,  in  so 
wretched  a  state  that  it  made  the  hearts  of  good  men 
bleed.  Zebede  told  me  that  they  left  Versailles  on 
the  31st  of  March,  after  the  capitulation  of  Paris, 
and  marched  to  Chartres,  to  Chateaudun,  to  Blois, 
Orleans  and  so  on  like  real  Bohemians,  for  six  weeks 
without  pay  or  equipments,  until  at  last  at  Rouen, 
they  received  orders  to  cross  France  and  return  to 
Pfalzbourg,  and  everywhere  the  processions  and 
funeral  services  for  the  King,  Louis  XVI.,  had  ex- 
cited the  people  against  them.  They  were  obliged 
to  bear  it  all,  and  even  were  compelled  to  bivouac  in 
the  fields  while  the  Russians,  Austrians,  and  Prus- 


60  WATERLOO 

sians,  and  other  beggars,  lived  quietly  in  our 
towns. 

Zebede  wept  with  rage  as  he  recounted  their  suf- 
ferings afterward. 

"  Is  France  no  longer  France  ?"  he  asked.  "  Have 
we  not  fought  for  her  honor  ?  " 

But  it  gives  me  pleasure  now  in  my  old  age,  to  re- 
member how  we  received  the  Sixth  at  Pfalzbourg. 
You  know  that  the  First  battalion  had  already  ar- 
rived from  Spain,  and  that  the  remnant  of  this  regi- 
ment and  of  the  24th  infantry  of  the  line  formed  the 
6th  regiment  of  Berry,  so  that  all  the  village  was  re- 
joicing that  instead  of  the  few  old  veterans,  we  were 
to  have  two  thousand  men  in  garrison.  There  was 
great  rejoicing,  and  everybody  shouted,  "  Long  live 
the  Sixth;  "  the  children  ran  out  to  St.  Jean  to 
meet  them,  and  the  battalion  had  nowhere  been  bet- 
ter received  than  here.  Several  old  fellows  wept 
and  shouted,  "  Long  live  France."  But  in  spite  of 
all  that,  the  officers  were  dejected  and  only  made 
signs  with  their  hands  as  if  to  thank  the  people  for 
their  kind  reception. 

I  stood  on  our  door-steps  while  three  or  four  hun- 
dred men  filed  past,  so  ragged  that  I  could  not  dis- 
tinguish our  number,  but  suddenly  I  saw  Zebede, 
who  was  marching  in  the  rear,  so  thin  that  his  long 
crooked  nose  stood  out  from  his  face  like  a  beak,  his 


WATERLOO  61 

old  cloak  hanging  like  fringe  down  hia  back,  but  he 
had  his  sergeant's  stripes,  and  his  large  bony  shoul- 
ders gave  him  the  appearance  of  strength.  On  see- 
ing him,  I  cried  out  so  loud  that  it  could  be  heard 
above  the  drums,  "  Zebede  !  " 

He  turned  round  and  I  sprang  into  his  arms  and 
he  put  down  his  gun  at  the  corner  of  the  rue  Fou- 
quet.  I  cried  like  a  child  and  he  said,  "  Ah  !  it  is 
you,  Joseph  !  there  are  two  of  us  left  then,  at 
least." 

"  Yes,  it  is  I,"  said  I,  "  and  I  am  going  to  marry 
Catherine,  and  you  shall  be  my  best  man." 

We  marched  along  together  to  the  corner  of  the 
rue  Houte,  where  old  Furst  was  waiting  with  tears 
in  his  eyes.  The  poor  old  man  thought,  "  Perhaps 
my  son  will  come  too."  Seeing  Zebede  coming 
with  me,  he  turned  suddenly  into  the  little  dark  en- 
trance to  his  house.  On  the  square,  Father  Klipfel 
and  five  or  six  others  were  looking  at  the  battalion 
in  line.  It  is  true  they  had  received  the  notices  of 
the  deaths,  but  still  they  thought  there  might  be  mis- 
takes, and  that  their  sons  did  not  like  to  write.  They 
looked  amongst  them,  and  then  went  away  while  the 
drums  were  beating. 

They  called  the  roll,  and  just  at  that  moment  the 
old  grave-digger  came  up  with  his  little  yellow  vel- 
vet vest  and  his  gray  cotton  cap.  He  looked  behind 


62  WATERLOO 

the  ranks  where  I  was  talking  with  Zebede,  who 
turned  round  and  saw  him  and  grew  quite  pale,  they 
looked  at  each  other  for  an  instant,  then  I  took  his 
gun  and  the  old  man  embraced  his  son.  They  did 
not  say  a  word,  but  remained  in  each  other's  arms 
for  a  long  while.  Then  when  the  battalion  filed  off 
to  the  right  to  go  to  the  barracks,  Zebede  asked  per- 
mission of  Captain  Vidal  to  go  home  with  his  father, 
and  gave  his  gun  to  his  nearest  comrade.  We  went 
together  to  the  rue  de  Capucins.  The  old  man  said : 

"  You  know  that  grandmother  is  so  old  that  she 
can  no  longer  get  out  of  bed,  or  she  would  have  come 
to  meet  you  too." 

I  went  to  the  door,  and  then  said  to  them,  *'  You 
will  come  and  dine  with  us,  both  of  you." 

"  I  will  with  pleasure,"  said  the  father.  "  Yes, 
Joseph,  we  will  come." 

I  went  home  to  tell  Father  Goulden  of  my  invita- 
tion, and  he  was  all  the  more  pleased  as  Catherine 
and  her  aunt  were  to  be  there  also. 

I  never  had  been  more  happy  than  when  thinking 
of  having  my  beloved,  my  best  friend,  and  all  those 
whom  I  loved  the  most,  together  at  our  house. 

That  day  at  eleven  o'clock  our  large  room  on  the 
first  floor  was  a  pretty  sight  to  see.  The  floor  had 
been  well  scrubbed,  the  round  table  in  the  middle  of 
the  room  was  covered  with  a  beautiful  cloth  with 


WATERLOO  63 

red  stripes  and  six  large  silver  covers  upon  it,  the 
napkins  folded  like  a  boat  in  the  shining  plates,  the 
salt-cellar  and  the  sealed  bottles,  and  the  large  cut 
glasses  sparkling  in  the  sun  which  came  over  the 
groups  of  lilac  ranged  along  the  windows. 

Mr.  Goulden  wished  to  have  everything  in  abun- 
dance, grand  and  magnificent,  as  he  would  for 
princes  and  embassadors,  and  he  had  taken  his  silver 
from  the  basket,  a  most  unusual  thing  ;  I  had  made 
the  soup  myself.  In  it  there  were  three  pounds  of 
good  meat,  a  head  of  cabbage,  carrots  in  abundance, 
indeed  everything  necessary  ;  except  that, — which 
you  can  never  have  so  good  at  an  hotel, — everything 
had  been  ordered  by  Mr.  Goulden  himself  from  the 
"  Ville  de  Metz." 

About  noon  we  looked  at  each  other,  smiling  and 
rubbing  our  hands,  he  in  his  beautiful  nut-brown 
coat,  well  shaved,  and  with  his  great  peruke  a  little 
rusty,  in  place  of  his  old  black  silk  cap,  his  maroon 
breeches  neatly  turned  over  his  thick  woollen  stock- 
ings, and  shoes  with  great  buckles  on  his  feet  ;  while 
I  had  on  my  sky-blue  coat  of  the  latest  fashion,  my 
shirt  finely  plaited  in  front,  and  happiness  in  my 
heart. 

All  that  was  lacking  now  was  our  guests — Cath- 
erine, Aunt  Gredel,  the  grave-digger,  and  Zebede. 
We  walked  up  and  down  laughing  and  saying,  "  Ev« 


64  WATERLOO 

erything  is  in  its  place  and  we  had  best  get  out  the 
soup-tureen."  And  I  looked  out  now  and  then  to 
see  if  they  were  coming. 

At  last  Aunt  Gredel  and  Catherine  turned  the 
corner  of  the  rue  Foquet  ;  they  came  from  mass  and 
had  their  prayer-books  under  their  arms,  and  farther 
on  I  saw  the  old  grave-digger  in  his  fine  coat  with 
wide  sleeves,  and  his  old  three-cornered  hat,  and 
Zebede,  who  had  put  on  a  clean  shirt  and  shaved 
himself.  They  came  from  the  side  next  the  ram- 
parts arm  in  arm,  gravely,  like  men  who  are  sober 
because  they  are  perfectly  happy. 

"  Here  they  are,"  I  said  to  Father  Goulden. 

"We  just  had  time  to  pour  out  the  soup  and  put  the 
big  tureen,  smoking  hot  in  the  middle  of  the  table. 
This  was  happily  accomplished  just  as  Aunt  Gredel 
and  Catherine  came  in.  You  can  judge  of  their 
surprise  on  seeing  the  beautiful  table.  We  had 
hardly  kissed  each  other  when  aunt  exclaimed  : 

"  It  is  the  wedding-day  then,  Mr.  Goulden." 

"  Yes,  Madame  Gredel,"  the  good  man  answered 
smiling, — on  days  of  ceremony  he  always  called  her 
Madame  instead  of  Mother  Gredel,  "  yes,  the  wed- 
ding of  good  friends.  You  know  that  Zebede  has 
just  returned,  and  he  will  dine  with  us  to-day  with 
the  old  grave-digger." 

"  Ah  ! "  said  aunt,  "  that  will  give  me  great 
pleasure." 


WATERLOO  65 

Catherine  blushed  deeply,  and  said  to  me  in  a  low 
voice  : 

"  !Now  everything  is  as  it  should  be,  that  was  what 
we  wanted  to  make  us  perfectly  happy." 

She  looked  tenderly  at  me  as  she  held  my  hand. 
Just  then  some  one  opened  the  door,  and  old  Laur- 
ent from  the  "  Ville  de  Metz,"  with  two  high  bas- 
kets in  which  dishes  were  ranged  in  beautiful  order 
one  above  the  other,  cried  out,  "  Mr.  Goulden,  here 
is  the  dinner  !  " 

"  Very  well  !  "  said  Mr.  Goulden,  "  now  arrange 
it  on  the  table  yourself." 

And  Laurent  put  on  the  radishes  first,  the  fricas- 
seed chicken  and  beautiful  fat  goose  at  the  right, 
and  on  the  left  the  beef  which  we  had  ourselves  ar- 
ranged with  parsley  in  the  plate.  He  put  on  also  a 
nice  plate  of  sauerkraut  with  little  sausages,  near  the 
soup.  Such  a  dinner  had  never  been  seen  in  our 
house  before. 

Just  at  that  moment  we  heard  Zebede  and  his 
father  coming  up  the  stairs,  and  Father  Goulden  and 
I  ran  to  meet  them.  Mr.  Goulden  embraced 
Zebede  and  said  : 

"  How  happy  I  am  to  see  you,  I  know  you  showed 
yourself  a  good  comrade  for  Joseph  in  the  midst  of 
the  greatest  danger." 

Then   he   shook   the   old   grave-digger's   hand, 


66  WATERLOO 

saying,  "  I  am  proud  of  you  for  having  such  a 
son. 

Then  Catherine,  who  had  come  behind  us,  said  to 
Zebede  : 

"  I  could  not  please  Joseph  more  than  to  embrace 
you,  you  would  have  carried  him  to  Hanau  only 
your  strength  failed.  I  look  upon  you  as  a  brother." 

Then  Zebede,  who  was  very  pale,  kissed  her  with- 
out saying  a  word,  and  we  all  went  into  the  room  in 
silence,  Catherine,  Zebede,  and  I  first,  Mr.  Goulden 
and  the  old  grave-digger  came  afterward.  Aunt 
Gredel  arranged  the  dishes  a  little  and  then  said  : 

"  You  are  welcome,  you  are  welcome  !  you  who 
met  in  sorrow,  have  rejoined  each  other  in  joy.  May 
God  send  his  grace  on  us  all." 

Zebede  kissed  Aunt  Gredel  and  said,  "  Always 
fresh  and  in  good  health,  it  is  a  pleasure  to  see  you." 

"  Come,  Father  Zebede,  sit  at  the  head  of  the 
table,  and  you  there,  Zebede,  that  I  may  have  you 
on  my  right  and  my  left,  Joseph  will  sit  farther 
down,  opposite  Catherine,  and  Madame  Gredel  at 
the  other  end  to  watch  over  all." 

Each  one  was  satisfied  with  his  place,  and  Zebede 
smiled  and  looked  at  me  as  if  he  would  say  :  "  If  we 
had  had  the  quarter  of  such  a  dinner  as  this  at 
Hanau,  we  should  never  have  fallen  by  the  road- 
side." Joy  and  a  good  appetite  shone  on  every 


WATERLOO  67 

face.  Father  Goulden  dipped  the  great  silver 
ladle  into  the  soup  as  we  all  looked  on,  and  served 
first  the  old  grave-digger,  who  said  nothing  and 
seemed  touched  by  this  honor,  then  his  son,  and  then 
Catherine,  Aunt  Gredel,  himself,  and  me.  And 
the  dinner  was  begun  quietly. 

Zebede  winked  and  looked  at  me  from  time  to 
time  with  great  satisfaction.  We  uncorked  the  first 
bottle  and  filled  the  glasses.  This  was  very  good 
wine,  but  there  was  better  coming,  so  we  did  not 
drink  each  other's  health  yet,  we  each  ate  a  good 
slice  of  beef,  and  Father  Goulden  said  : 

"  Here  is  something  -good,  this  beef  is  excellent." 
He  found  the  fricassee  very  good  also,  and  then  I 
saw  that  Catherine  was  a  woman  of  spirit,  for  she 
said  : 

"  You  know,  Mr.  Zebede,  that  we  should  have  in- 
vited your  grandmother  Margaret,  whom  I  go  to  see 
from  time  to  time,  only  she  is  too  old  to  go  out,  but 
if  you  wish,  she  shall  at  least  eat  a  morsel  with  us, 
and  drink  her  grandson's  health  in  a  glass  of  wine. 
What  do  you  say,  Father  Zebede?  " 

"  I  was  just  thinking  of  that,"  said  the  old  man. 

Father  Goulden  looked  at  Catherine  with  tears  in 
his  eyes,  and  as  she  rose  to  select  a  suitable  piece  for 
the  old  woman,  he  kissed  her,  and  I  heard  him  call 
her  his  daughter, 


68  WATERLOO 

She  went  out  with  a  bottle  and  a  plate  ;  and  while 
she  was  gone  Zebede  said  to  me  : 

"  Joseph,  she  who  is  soon  to  be  your  wife  deserves 
to  be  perfectly  happy,  for  she  is  not  only  a  good  girl, 
not  only  a  woman  who  ought  to  be  loved,  but  she 
deserves  respect  also,  for  she  has  a  good  and  feeling 
heart.  She  saw  what  my  father  and  I  thought  of 
this  excellent  dinner,  and  she  knew  it  would  give  us 
a  thousand  times  more  pleasure  if  grandmother 
could  share  it.  I  shall  love  her  for  it,  as  if  she  were 
my  sister."  Then  he  added  in  a  low  voice  :  "  It  is 
when  we  are  happy  that  we  feel  the  bitterness  of 
poverty.  It  is  not  enough  to  give  our  blood  to  our 
country,  but  there  is  suffering  at  home  in  conse- 
quence, and  when  we  return  we  must  have  misery 
before  our  eyes." 

I  saw  that  he  was  growing  sad,  so  I  filled  his  glass 
and  we  drank,  and  his  melancholy  vanished.  Cath- 
erine came  back  and  said,  "  the  grandmother  was 
very  happy,  and  that  she  thanked  Mr.  Goulden,  and 
said  it  had  been  a  beautiful  day  for  her."  And  this 
roused  everybody.  As  the  dinner  continued,  Aunt 
Gredel  heard  the  bells  for  vespers,  and  she  went  out 
to  church,  but  Catherine  remained,  and  the  anima- 
tion which  good  wine  inspires  had  come,  and  we  be- 
gan to  speak  of  the  last  campaign  ;  of  the  retreat 
from  the  Rhine  to  Paris,  of  the  fighting  of 'the  bat- 


WATERLOO  6? 

talion  at  Bibelskirchen  and  at  Saarbruck,  where 
Lieutenant  Baubin  swam  the  Saar  when  it  was  freez- 
ing as  hard  as  stone,  to  destroy  some  boats  which 
were  still  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy  ;  of  the  passage 
at  Narbefontaine,  at  Courcelles,  at  Metz,  at  Enzel- 
vin,  and  at  Champion  and  Verdun,  and,  still  re- 
treating, the  battle  of  Brienne.  The  men  were 
nearly  all  destroyed,  but  on  the  4th  of  February  the 
battalion  was  re-formed  from  the  remnant  of  the 
5th  light  infantry,  and  from  that  moment  they  were 
every  day  under  fire  ;  on  the  5th,  6th,  and  7th  at 
Mery-sur-Seine  ;  on  the  8th  at  Sezanne,  where  the 
soldiers  died  in  the  mud,  not  having  strength  enough 
to  get  out  ;  the  9th  and  10th  at  Miirs,  where  Zebede 
was  buried  at  night  in  the  dung-heap  of  a  farm- 
house in  order  to  get  warm,  and  the  terrible  battle 
of  Marche  on  the  llth,  in  which  the  Commandant 
Philippe  was  wounded  by  a  bayonet-thrust;  the 
encounter  on  the  12th  and  13th  at  Montmirail,  the 
battle  of  Beauchamp  on  the  14th,  the  retreat  on 
Montmirail  on  the  15th  and  16th,  when  the  Prussians 
returned :  the  combats  at  the  Ferte-Gauche,  at  Jou- 
arre,  at  Gue-a-Train,  at  Neufchettes,  and  so  on. 
When  the  Prussians  were  beaten,  then  came  the 
Russians,  after  them  the  Austrians,  the  Bavarians, 
the  "Wurtemburgers,  the  Hessians,  the  Saxons,  and 
the  Badois. 


7o  WATERLOO 

I  have  often  heard  that  campaign  described,  but 
never  as  it  was  done  by  Zebede.  As  he  talked  his 
great  thin  face  quivered  and  his  long  nose  turned 
down  over  the  four  hairs  of  his  yellow  mustache, 
and  his  eyes  would  flash  and  he  would  stretch  out 
his  hand  from  his  old  sleeve  and  you  could  see  what 
he  was  describing.  The  great  plains  of  Champagne 
with  the  smoking  villages  to  the  right  and  to  the 
left,  where  the  women,  children,  and  old  men  were 
wandering  about  in  groups,  half  naked,  one  carry- 
ing a  miserable  old  mattress,  another  with  a  few 
pieces  of  furniture  on  his  cart,  while  the  snow  was 
falling  from  the  sky,  and  the  cannon  roared  in  the 
distance,  and  the  Cossacks  were  flying  about  like 
the  wind  with  kitchen  utensils  and  even  old  clocks 
hanging  to  their  saddles,  shouting  hurrah  ! 

Furious  battles  were  raging,  singly,  or  one  against 
ten,  in  which  the  desperate  peasants  joined  also  with 
their  scythes.  At  night  the  Emperor  might  be  seen 
sitting  astride  his  chair,  with  his  chin  resting  in  his 
folded  hands  on  the  back,  before  a  little  fire  with  his 
generals  around  him.  This  was  the  way  he  slept 
and  dreamed.  He  must  have  had  terrible  reflec- 
tions after  the  days  of  Marengo,  Austerlitz,  and 
"Wagram. 

To  fight  the  enemy,  to  suffer  hunger  and  cold  and 
fatigue,  to  march  and  countermarch,  Zebede  said, 


WATERLOO  71 

were  nothing,  but  to  hear  the  women  and  children 
weeping  and  groaning  in  French  in  the  midst  of 
their  ruined  homes,  to  know  you  could  not  help 
them,  and  that  the  more  enemies  you  killed,  the 
more  would  you  have  ;  that  you  must  retreat,  al- 
ways retreat,  in  spite  of  victories,  in  spite  of  cour- 
age, in  spite  of  everything  !  "  that  is  what  breaks 
your  heart,  Mr.  Goulden." 

In  listening  and  looking  at  him  we  had  lost  all 
inclination  to  drink,  and  Father  Goulden,  with  his 
great  head  bent  down  as  if  thinking,  said  in  a  low 
voice  : 

"  Yes,  that  is  what  glory  costs,  it  is  not  enough  to 
lose  our  liberty,  not  enough  to  lose  the  rights  gained 
at  such  a  cost,  we  must  be  pillaged,  sacked,  burned, 
cut  to  pieces  by  Cossacks,  we  must  see  what  has  not 
been  seen  for  centuries,  a  horde  of  brigands  making 
law  for  us — but  go  on,  we  are  listening,  tell  us  all." 

Catherine,  seeing  how  sad  we  were,  filled  the 
glasses. 

"  Come,"  said  she,  "  to  the  health  of  Mr.  Goulden 
and  Father  Zebede.  All  these  misfortunes  are  past 
and  will  never  return." 

We  drank,  and  Zebede  related  how  it  had  been 
necessary  to  fill  up  the  battalion  again,  on  the  route 
to  Soissons,  with  the  soldiers  of  the  16th  light  infan- 
try, and  how  they  arrived  at  Meaux  where  the 


ya  WATERLOO 

plague  was  raging,  although  it  was  winter,  in  the 
hospital  of  Piete,  in  consequence  of  the  great  num- 
bers of  wounded  who  could  not  be  cared  for. 

That  was  horrible,  but  the  worst  of  all  was  when 
he  described  their  arrival  at  Paris,  at  the  Barriere 
de  Charenton:  the  Empress,  King  Joseph,  the  King 
of  Rome,  the  ministers,  the  new  princes  and  dukes, 
and  all  the  great  world,  were  running  away  toward 
Blois,  and  abandoning  the  capital  to  the  enemy, 
while  the  workingmen  in  blouses,  who  gained  noth- 
ing from  the  Empire,  but  to  be  forced  to  give  their 
children  to  defend  it,  were  gathered  around  the 
town-house  by  thousands,  begging  for  arms  to  de- 
fend the  honor  of  France;  and  the  Old  Guard  re- 
pulsed them  with  the  bayonet ! 

At  this  Father  Goulden  exclaimed : 

"  That  is  enough,  Zebede,  hold!  stop  there,  and 
let  us  talk  of  something  else." 

He  had  suddenly  grown  very  pale;  at  this  mo- 
ment Mother  Gredel  returned  from  vespers,  and 
seeing  us  all  so  quiet,  and  Mr.  Goulden  so  disturbed, 
asked : 

"  What  has  happened? " 

"  "We  were  speaking  of  the  Empress  and  of  the 
ministers  of  the  Emperor,"  replied  Father  Goulden, 
forcing  a  laugh. 

Said  she,  "  I  am  not  astonished  that  the  wine 


WATERLOO  73 

turns  against  you.  Every  time  I  think  of  them,  if 
by  accident  I  look  in  the  glass,  I  see  that  it  turns 
me  quite  livid.  The  beggars!  fortunately,  they 
are  gone." 

Zebede  did  not  like  this.  Mr.  Goulden  observed 
it  and  said,  "  Well !  France  is  a  great  and  glorious 
country  all  the  same.  If  the  new  nobles  are  worth 
no  more  than  the  old  ones,  the  people  are  firm. 
They  work  in  vain  against  them.  The  bourgeois, 
the  artisan,  and  the  peasant  are  united,  they  have 
the  same  interests  and  will  not  give  up  what  they 
have  gained,  nor  let  them  again  put  their  feet  on 
their  necks.  Now,  friends,  let  us  go  and  take  the 
air,  it  is  late,  and  Madame  Gredel  and  Catherine 
have  a  long  way  to  go  to  Quatre  Vents.  Joseph 
will  go  with  them." 

"  No,"  said  Catherine,  "  Joseph  must  stay  with, 
his  friend  to-day,  and  we  will  go  home  alone." 

"  Very  well!  so  be  it!  on  a  day  like  this  friends 
should  be  together,"  said  Mr.  Goulden. 

We  went  out  arm  in  arm,  it  was  dark,  and  after 
embracing  Catherine  again  at  the  Place  d' Amies 
she  and  her  aunt  took  their  way  home,  and  after 
having  taken  a  few  turns  under  the  great  lindens  we 
went  to  the  "  Wild  Man  "  and  refreshed  ourselves 
with  some  glasses  of  foaming  beer.  Mr.  Goulden 
described  the  siege,  the  attack  at  Pernette,  the  sor- 


74.  WATERLOO 

ties  at  Bigelberg,  at  the  barracks  above,  and  the 
bombardment.  It  was  then  that  I  learned  for  the 
first  time  that  he  had  been  captain  of  a  gun,  and 
that  it  was  he  who  had  first  thought  of  breaking  up 
the  melting-pots  in  the  foundry  to  make  shot. 
These  stories  occupied  us  till  after  ten  o'clock.  At 
last  Zebede  left  us  to  go  to  the  barracks,  the  old 
grave-digger  went  to  the  rue  Capucin,  and  we  to 
our  beds,  where  we  slept  till  eight  o'clock  the  next 
morning. 


vn 

Two  days  afterward  I  was  married  to  Catherine 
at  Aunt  Gredel's  at  Quatre  Vents.  Mr.  Goulden 
represented  my  father.  Zebede  was  my  best  man, 
and  some  old  comrades  remaining  from  the  battalion 
were  also  at  the  wedding.  The  next  day  we  were 
installed  in  our  two  little  rooms  over  the  workshop 
at  Father  Goulden's,  Catherine  and  I.  Many  years 
have  rolled  away  since  then!  Mr.  Goulden,  Aunt 
Gredel,  and  the  old  comrades  have  all  passed  away, 
and  Catherine's  hair  is  as  white  as  snow !  Yet  often, 
even  now,  when  I  look  at  her,  those  times  come 
back  again,  and  I  see  her  as  she  was  at  twenty, 
fresh  and  rosy,  I  see  her  arrange  the  flower-pots  in 
the  chamber-window,  I  hear  her  singing  to  herself, 
I  see  the  sun  opposite,  and  then  we  descend  the 
steep  little  staircase  and  say  together,  as  we  go  into 
the  workshop:  "Good-morning,  Mr.  Goulden;" 
he  turns,  smiles,  and  answers,  "  Good-morning,  my 
children,  good-morning!  "  Then  he  kisses  Cath- 
erine and  she  commences  to  sweep  and  rub  the  fur- 
75 


76  WATERLOO 

niture  and  prepare  the  soup,  while  we  examine  the 
work  we  have  to  do  during  the  day. 

Ah,  those  beautiful  days,  that  charming  life. 
"What  joy  in  being  young  and  in  having  a  simple, 
good,  and  industrious  wife!  How  our  hearts  re- 
joice, and  the  future  spreads  out  so  far — so  far — be- 
fore us!  We  shall  never  be  old;  we  shall  always 
love  each  other,  and  always  keep  those  we  love! 
We  shall  always  be  of  good  heart;  we  shall  always 
take  our  Sunday  walk  arm  in  arm  to  Bonne-Fon- 
taine; we  shall  always  sit  on  the  moss  in  the  woods, 
and  hear  the  bees  and  May  bugs  buzzing  in  the 
great  trees  filled  with  light;  we  shall  always  smile! 
What  a  life !  what  a  life ! 

And  at  night  we  shall  go  softly  home  to  the  nest, 
as  we  silently  look  at  the  golden  trains  which  spread 
over  the  sky  from  Wecham  to  the  forests  of  Mittel- 
bronn,  we  shall  press  each  other's  hand  when  we 
hear  the  little  clock  at  Pfalzbourg  ring  out  the 
"  Angelus,"  and  those  of  all  the  villages  will  re- 
spond through  the  twilight.  Oh,  youth!  oh,  life! 

All  is  before  me  just  as  it  was  fifty  years  ago; 
but  other  sparrows  and  larks  sing  and  build  in  the 
spring,  other  blossoms  whiten  the  great  apple-trees. 
And  have  we  changed  too,  and  grown  old  like  the 
old  people  of  those  days  ?  That  alone  makes  me  be- 
lieve that  we  shall  become  young  again,  that  we 


TWO   DATS   AFTER,   MT   MARRIAGE  WITH   CATHERINE   TOOK  PLACE. 


WATERLOO  77 

shall  renew  our  loves  and  rejoin  Father  Goulden 
and  Aunt  Gredel  and  all  our  dear  friends.  Other- 
wise we  should  be  too  unhappy  in  growing  old. 
God  would  not  send  us  pain  without  hope.  And 
Catherine  believes  it  too.  Well!  at  that  time  we 
were  perfectly  happy,  everything  was  beautiful  to 
us,  nothing  troubled  our  joy. 

It  was  when  the  allies  were  passing  through  our 
city  by  hundreds  of  thousands  on  their  way  home. 
Cavalry,  artillery,  infantry,  foot  and  horse,  with  oak 
leaves  in  their  shakos,  on  their  caps,  and  on  the  ends 
of  their  muskets  and  lances.  They  shouted  so  that 
you  could  hear  them  a  league  away.  Just  as  you 
hear  the  chaffinches,  thrushes,  and  blackbirds,  and 
thousands  of  other  birds  in  the  autumn.  At  any 
other  time  this  would  have  made  me  sad,  because 
it  was  the  sign  of  our  defeat,  but  I  consoled  myself 
by  thinking  that  they  were  going  away,  never  to 
return.  And  when  Zebede  came  to  tell  me  that 
every  day  the  Russian,  Austrian,  Prussian,  and  Ba- 
varian officers  crossed  the  city  to  visit  our  new  com- 
mandant, Mons.  de  la  Faisanderie,  who  was  an  old 
emigre,  and  who  covered  them  with  honors — that 
such  an  officer  of  the  battalion  had  provoked  one  of 
these  strangers,  and  that  such  another  half-pay  of- 
ficer had  killed  two  or  three  in  duels  at  the 
"  Roulette,"  or  the  "  Green  Tree,"  or  the  "  Flower 


78  WATERLOO 

Basket,"  for  they  were  everywhere — our  soldiers 
could  not  bear  the  sight  of  the  foreigners,  there 
were  fights  everywhere,  and  the  litters  of  the  hos- 
pital were  constantly  going  and  coming — when 
Zebede  told  me  all  these  things,  and  when  he  said 
that  so  many  officers  had  been  put  upon  half-pay 
in  order  to  replace  them  by  officers  from  Coblentz, 
and  that  the  soldiers  were  to  be  compelled  to  go  to 
mass  in  full  uniform,  that  the  priests  were  every- 
thing and  epaulettes  nothing  any  more;  instead  of 
being  vexed,  I  only  said,  "  Bah !  all  these  things  will 
get  settled  by  and  by.  So  long  as  we  can  have 
quiet,  and  can  live  and  labor  in  peace,  we  will  be 
satisfied." 

I  did  not  think  that  it  is  not  enough  that  one 
is  satisfied;  to  preserve  peace  and  tranquillity,  all 
must  be  so  likewise.  I  was  like  Aunt  Gredel,  who 
found  everything  right  now  that  we  were  married. 
She  came  very  often  to  see  us,  with  her  basket  full 
of  fresh  eggs,  fruits,  vegetables,  and  cakes  for  our 
housekeeping,  and  she  would  say: 

"  Oh !  Mr.  Goulden,  there  is  no  need  to  ask  if  the 
children  are  well,  you  have  only  to  look  at  their 
faces." 

And  to  me  she  would  say:  "  There  is  some  dif- 
ference, Joseph,  between  being  married,  and  trudg- 
ing along  under  a  knapsack  and  musket  at  Lutzen!  " 


WATERLOO  79 

"  I  believe  you,  Mamma  Gredel,"  I  would  an- 
swer. 

Then  she  would  sit  down,  with  her  hands  on  her 
knees,  and  say:  "All  this  comes  from  peace; 
peace  makes  everybody  happy,  and  to  think  of  that 
mob  of  barefoot  beggars  who  shout  against  the 
King!  " 

At  first  Mr.  Goulden,  who  was  at  work,  would 
say  nothing,  but  when  she  kept  on  he  would  say, 
"  Come,  Mother  Gredel,  a  little  moderation,  you 
know  that  opinion  is  free  now,  we  have  two  cham- 
bers and  constitution,  and  each  one  has  a  voice." 

"  But  it  is  also  true,"  said  aunt  looking  at  me  ma- 
liciously, "  that  one  must  hold  his  tongue  from  time 
to  time,  and  that  shows  a  difference  too." 

Mr.  Goulden  never  went  farther  thfin  «;his,  for 
he  looked  upon  aunt  as  a  good  woman,  but  who  was 
not  worth  the  trouble  of  converting.  He  would 
only  laugh  when  she  went  too  far,  and  matters  went 
on  without  jarring  until  something  new  happened. 

At  first  there  was  an  order  from  Nancy  to  com- 
pel the  people  to  close  all  their  shutters  during  ser- 
vice on  Sunday — Jews,  Lutherans,  and  all.  There 
was  no  more  noise  in  the  inns  and  wine-shops,  it  was 
still  as  death  in  the  city  during  mass  and  vespers. 
The  people  said  nothing,  but  looked  at  each  other  as 
if  they  were  afraid. 


So  WATERLOO 

The  first  Sunday  that  our  shutters  were  closed, 
Mr.  Goulden  seemed  very  sad,  and  said,  as  we  were 
dining  in  the  dark,  "  I  had  hoped,  my  children, 
that  all  this  was  over,  and  that  people  would  have 
common-sense,  and  that  we  should  be  tranquil  for 
years,  but  unhappily  I  see  that  these  Bourbons  are 
of  the  same  race  as  Dagobert.  Affairs  are  growing 
serious." 

He  did  not  say  anything  else  on  this  Sunday,  and 
went  out  in  the  afternoon  to  read  the  papers. 
Everybody  who  could  read  went,  while  the  peasants 
were  at  mass,  to  read  the  papers  after  shutting  their 
shops.  The  citizens  and  master-workmen  then  got 
in  the  habit  of  reading  the  papers,  and  a  little  later 
they  wanted  a  Casino.  I  remember  that  everybody 
talked  of  Benjamin  Constant  and  placed  great  confi- 
dence in  him.  Mr.  Goulden  liked  him  very  much, 
and  as  he  was  accustomed  to  go  every  evening  to 
Father  Colin's,  to  read  of  what  had  taken  place,  we 
also  heard  the  news.  He  told  us  that  the  Duke 
d'Angouleme  was  at  Bordeaux,  the  Count  d'Artois 
at  Marseilles,  they  had  promised  this,  and  they  had 
said  that. 

Catherine  was  more  curious  than  I,  she  liked  to 
hear  all  the  news  there  was  in  the  country,  and 
when  Mr.  Goulden  said  anything,  I  could  see  in 
her  eyes  that  she  thought  he  was  right.  One  even- 


WATERLOO  8 I 

ing  he  said,  "  The  Duke  de  Berry  is  coming 
here." 

We  were  greatly  astonished.  "  What  is  he  going 
to  do  here,  Mr.  Goulden?  "  asked  Catherine. 

"  He  is  coming  to  review  the  regiment,"  he  an- 
swered, "  I  have  a  great  curiosity  to  see  him.  The 
papers  say  that  he  looks  like  Bonaparte,  but  that 
he  has  a  great  deal  more  mind.  It  is  not  astonish- 
ing for  if  a  legitimate  prince  had  no  more  sense  than 
the  son  of  a  peasant  it  would  be  a  great  pity.  But 
you  have  seen  Bonaparte,  Joseph,  and  you  can 
judge  of  the  matter." 

You  can  imagine  how  this  news  excited  the  coun- 
try. From  that  day  nothing  was  thought  of  but 
erecting  triumphal  arches,  and  making  white  flags, 
and  the  people  from  all  the  villages  kept  coming 
with  their  carts  covered  with  garlands.  They  raised 
a  triumphal  arch  at  Pfalzbourg  and  another  near 
Saverne.  Every  evening  after  supper  Catherine 
and  I  went  out  to  see  how  the  work  progressed.  It 
was  between  the  hotel  "  de  la  Ville  de  Metz  "  and 
the  shop  of  the  confectioner  Durr,  right  across  the 
street.  The  old  carpenter  Ulrich  and  his  boys  built 
it.  It  was  like  a  great  gate  covered  with  garlands 
of  oak  leaves,  and  over  the  front  were  displayed 
magnificent  white  flags. 

While  they  were  doing  this,  Zebede  came  to  se$ 

6 


82  WATERLOO 

us  several  times.  The  prince  was  to  come  from 
Metz,  the  regiment  had  received  letters,  which  rep- 
resented him  as  being  as  severe  as  if  he  had  gained 
fifty  battles.  But  what  vexed  Zebede  most  was, 
that  the  prince  called  our  old  officers,  "  Soldiers  of 
fortune." 

He  arrived  the  1st  of  October,  at  six  in  the  even- 
ing, we  heard  the  cannon  when  he  was  at  Gerber- 
hoff.  He  alighted  at  the  "  Ville  de  Metz,"  without 
going  under  the  arch.  The  square  was  crowded  with 
officers  in  full  uniform,  and  from  all  the  windows 
the  people  shouted,  "  Long  live  the  King,  Long 
live  the  Duke  de  Berry,"  just  as  they  cried  in  the 
time  of  Napoleon,  "  Long  live  the  Emperor." 

Mr.  Goulden  and  Catherine  and  I  could  not  get 
near  because  of  the  crowd,  and  we  only  saw  the  car- 
riages and  the  hussars  file  past.  A  picket  near  our 
house  cut  off  all  communication.  That  same  even- 
ing he  received  the  corps  of  officers  and  conde- 
scended to  accept  a  dinner  offered  to  him  by  the 
Sixth,  but  he  only  invited  Colonel  Zaepfel.  After 
the  dinner,  from  which  they  did  not  rise  till  ten 
o'clock,  the  principal  citizens  gave  a  ball  at  the  col- 
lege. All  the  officers  and  all  the  friends  of  the 
Bourbons  were  present  in  black  coats,  and  breeches 
and  stockings  of  white  silk,  to  meet  the  prince,  and 
the  young  girls  of  good  families  were  there  in 


WATERLOO  83 

crowds,  dressed  in  white.  I  still  seem  to  hear  the 
horses  of  the  escort  as  they  passed  in  the  middle  of 
the  night  amid  the  thousands  shouting  "  Yive  le 
Roi!  Vive  le  Due  de  Berry!  " 

All  the  windows  were  illuminated,  and  before 
those  of  the  commandant  there  was  a  great  shield 
of  sky  blue,  and  the  crown  and  the  three  fleur-de-lis 
in  gold,  sparkled  in  the  centre.  The  great  hall  of 
the  college  echoed  with  the  music  of  the  regimental 
band. 

Mademoiselle  Bremer,  who  had  a  very  fine  voice, 
was  to  sing  the  air  of  "  Vive  Henri  IV."  before  the 
prince.  But  all  the  village  knew  the  next  day,  that 
she  had  been  so  confused  by  the  sight  of  the  prince, 
that  she  could  not  utter  a  word,  and  everybody  said, 
"  Poor  Mademoiselle  Felicite,  poor  Mademoiselle 
Felicite." 

The  ball  lasted  all  night.  We — Mr.  Goulden, 
Catherine,  and  I — were  asleep,  when  about  three  in 
the  morning  we  were  wakened  by  the  hussars  going 
by  and  the  shouts  of  "Vive  le  Due  de  Berry."  These 
princes  must  have  excellent  health  to  be  able  to  go 
to  all  the  balls  and  dinners  which  are  offered  to 
them  on  their  journeys.  And  it  must  become  very 
tiresome  at  last  to  be  called  "  Your  Majesty," 
"  Your  Excellence,"  "  Your  Goodness,"  and  "  Your 
Justice,"  and  everything  else  that  can  be  thought 


84  WATERLOO 

of,  that  is  new  and  extraordinary,  in  order  to  make 
them  believe  that  the  people  adore  them  and  look 
upon  them  as  gods.  If  they  do  despise  the  men  at 
last  it  is  not  astonishing.  If  the  same  thing  were 
done  to  us  we  might  think  ourselves  eagles  too. 

What  I  have  told  you  is  exactly  the  truth.  I 
have  exaggerated  nothing. 

The  next  day  they  began  again  with  new  enthu- 
siasm. The  weather  was  very  fine,  but  as  the  prince 
had  slept  badly,  and  the  children  who  wished  to  imi- 
tate the  court  without  succeeding,  annoyed  him, 
and  he  thought  perhaps,  that  they  had  not  done  him 
sufficient  honor  and  had  not  shouted  "  Vive  le  Hoi, 
Vive  le  Due  de  Berry  "  loud  and  long  enough — for 
all  the  soldiers  kept  silent — he  was  in  a  very  bad 
humor. 

I  saw  him  very  well  that  day,  while  the  review 
was  taking  place — the  soldiers  occupied  the  sides  of 
the  square,  we  were  at  Wittman's,  the  leather  mer- 
chant, on  the  first  floor — and  also  during  the  con- 
secration of  the  flag  and  the  Te  Deum  at  the  church, 
for  we  had  the  fourth  pew  in  front  of  the  choir. 
They  said  he  looked  like  Napoleon,  but  it  was  not 
true;  he  was  a  good-looking  fat  fellow,  short  and 
thick,  and  pale  with  fatigue,  and  not  at  all  lively, 
quite  the  contrary.  During  the  service  he  did  noth- 
ing but  yawn  and  rock  back  and  forth  like  a  pen- 


WATERLOO  85 

dulum.  I  am  telling  you  what  I  saw  myself,  and 
that  shows  how  blind  people  are,  they  want  to  find 
resemblances  everywhere. 

During  the  review,  too,  I  remembered  that  the 
Emperor  always  came  on  horseback,  and  so  would 
discover  at  a  glance  if  everything  was  in  order;  in- 
stead of  this,  the  duke  came  along  the  ranks  on  foot, 
and  two  or  three  times  he  found  fault  with  old  sol- 
diers, examining  them  from  head  to  foot.  That 
was  the  worst.  Zebede  was  one  of  these  men,  and 
he  never  could  forgive  him. 

That  was  well  enough  for  the  review,  but  a  more 
serious  thing  was  the  distribution  of  the  crosses  and 
the  fleur-de-lis.  "When  I  tell  you  that  all  the  may- 
ors and  their  assistants,  the  councillors  from  the 
Baraques-d'en-Haut  and  the  Baraques-du-bois-de- 
Chenes,  from  Holderloch  and  Hirschland,  received 
the  fleur-de-lis  because  they  headed  their  village 
deputations  with  a  white  flag,  and  that  Pinacle  re- 
ceived the  cross  of  honor,  for  having  arrived  first 
with  the  band  of  the  Bohemian,  Waldteufel,  who 
played  "  Yive  Henri  IV.,"  and  had  five  or  six  white 
flags  larger  than  the  others;  when  I  tell  you  that, 
you  will  understand  what  reasonable  people 
thought.  It  was  a  real  scandal ! 

In  the  afternoon  about  four  o'clock,  the  prince 
left  for  Strasbourg,  accompanied  by  all  the  royalists 


86  WATERLOO 

in  the  country  on  horseback,  some  on  good  mounts, 
and  others,  like  Pinacle,  on  old  hacks. 

One  event  the  Pf  alzbourgers  of  that  day  remem- 
ber until  this,  and  that  is,  that  after  the  prince  was 
seated  in  his  carriage  and  was  driving  slowly  away, 
one  of  the  emigre  officers  with  his  head  uncovered 
and  in  uniform,  ran  after  him,  crying  in  a  pitiful 
voice,  "  Bread,  my  prince,  bread  for  my  children!  " 
That  made  the  people  blush,  and  they  ran  away  for 
shame. 

We  went  home  in  silence,  Father  Goulden  was 
lost  in  thought,  when  Aunt  Gredel  arrived. 

"  Well !  Mother  Gredel,  you  ought  to  be  satis- 
fied," said  he. 

"And  why?" 

"  Because  Pinacle  has  been  decorated." 

She  turned  quite  livid,  and  said  after  a  minute : 

"  That  is  the  greatest  trumpery  that  ever  was 
seen.  If  the  prince  had  known  what  he  is,  he  would 
have  hung  him  rather  than  decorate  him  with  the 
cross  of  honor." 

"  That  is  just  the  trouble,"  said  Mr.  Goulden, 
"  those  people  do  many  such  things  without  know- 
ing it,  and  when  they  do  know,  it  is  too  late." 


vin 

So  it  was  that  Monseigneur  the  Duke  de  Berry, 
visited  the  departments  of  the  East.  Every  word 
he  uttered  was  taken  up  and  repeated  again  and 
again.  Some  praised  his  exceeding  graciousness, 
and  others  kept  silence.  From  that  time  I  sus- 
pected that  all  these  emigres  and  officers  on  half- 
pay,  these  preachers  with  their  processions  and  their 
expiations,  would  overturn  everything  again,  and 
about  the  beginning  of  winter  we  heard  that  not 
only  with  us,  but  all  over  Alsace  affairs  were  grow- 
ing worse  and  worse  in  just  the  same  way. 

One  morning  between  eleven  and  twelve  Father 
Goulden  and  I  were  both  at  work,  each  one  thinking 
after  his  own  fashion,  and  Catherine  was  laying  the 
cloth.  I  started  to  go  out  to  wash  my  hands  at  the 
pump,  as  I  always  did  before  dinner,  when  I  saw  an 
old  woman  wiping  her  feet  on  the  straw  mat  at  the 
foot  of  the  stairs  and  shaking  her  skirts  which  were 
covered  with  mud.  She  had  a  stout  staff,  and  a 
large  rosary  hung  from  her  neck.  As  I  looked  at 
her  from  the  top  of  the  stairs,  she  began  to  come  up 

87 


88  WATERLOO 

and  I  recognized  her  immediately  by  the  folds  about 
her  eyes  and  the  innumerable  wrinkles  round 
her  little  mouth,  as  Anna-Marie,  the  pilgrim  of  St. 
Witt.  The  poor  old  woman  often  brought  us 
watches  to  mend,  from  pious  people  who  had  confi- 
dence in  her,  and  Mr.  Goulden  was  always  delight- 
ed to  see  her. 

"  Ah !  "  he  exclaimed,  "  it  is  Anne-Marie !  now 
we  shall  have  the  news.  And  how  is  Mr.  Such-an- 
one,  the  priest  ?  How  is  the  Vicar  So-and-So  ?  Does 
he  still  look  as  well  as  ever?  and  Mr.  Jacob,  of  such 
a  place.  And  the  old  sexton,  ISTiclausse,  does  he 
still  ring  the  bells  at  Dann,  and  at  Hirschland,  and 
Saint  Jean?  He  must  begin  to  look  old?  " 

"Ah!  Mr.  Goulden,  thanks  for  Mr.  Jacob,  you 
know  that  he  lost  Mademoiselle  Christine  last 
week." 

"What!    Mademoiselle  Christine?" 

"Yes,  indeed?" 

"  What  a  misfortune !  but  we  must  remember 
that  we  are  all  mortal !  " 

"  Yes,  Mr.  Goulden,  and  when  one  is  so  fortu- 
nate as  to  receive  the  holy  consolations  of  the 
Church." 

"  Certainly — certainly,  that  is  the  principal 
thing." 

So  they  talked  on,  Father  Goulden  laughing  in  his 


WATERLOO  89 

sleeve.  She  knew  everything  that  happened  within 
six  leagues  round  the  city.  He  looked  mischiev- 
ously at  me  from  time  to  time.  This  same  thing 
had  happened  a  hundred  times  during  my  appren- 
ticeship, but  you  will  understand  how  much  more 
curious  he  was  now  to  learn  all  that  was  going  on 
in  the  country. 

"  Ah!  it  is  really  Anna-Marie!  "  said  he  rising, 
"  it  is  a  long  time  since  we  have  seen  you." 

"  Three  months,  Mr.  Goulden,  three  long 
months.  I  have  made  pilgrimages  to  Saint  Witt, 
to  Saint  Odille,  to  Marienthal,  to  Hazlach,  and  I 
have  vows  for  all  the  saints  in  Alsace,  in  Lorraine, 
and  in  the  Vosges.  But  now  I  have  nearly  finished, 
only  Saint  Quirin  remains." 

"  Ah !  so  much  the  better,  yoin  affairs  go  on  well, 
and  that  gives  me  pleasure.  Sit  down,  Anna-Marie, 
sit  down  and  rest  yourself." 

I  saw  in  his  eyes  how  happy  he  was  to  have  her 
unroll  her  budget  of  news.  But  it  appeared  she  had 
other  matters  to  attend  to. 

"  Oh !  Mr.  Goulden,"  said  she.  "  I  cannot  to- 
day. Others  are  before  me,  Mother  Evig,  Gaspard 
Rosenkranz,  and  Jacob  Heilig.  I  must  go  to  Saint 
Quirin,  to-night.  I  only  just  came  in  to  tell  you 
that  the  clock  at  Dosenheim  is  out  of  order,  and 
that  they  are  expecting  you  to  repair  it." 


9o  WATERLOO 

"  Pshaw!  pshaw!  stay  a  moment." 

"  No,  I  cannot,  I  am  very  sorry,  Mr.  Goulden, 
but  I  must  finish  my  round." 

She  had  already  taken  up  her  bundle,  and  Mr. 
Goulden  seemed  greatly  disappointed;  when  Cath- 
erine put  a  great  dish  of  cabbage  on  the  table,  and 
said,  "  What!  are  you  going,  Anna-Marie?  you 
cannot  think  of  it !  here  is  your  plate !  " 

She  turned  her  head  and  saw  the  smoking  soup 
and  the  cabbage,  which  exhaled  a  most  delicious 
odor. 

"  I  am  in  a  great  hurry,"  said  she. 

"  Oh !  pshaw !  you  have  very  good  legs,"  said 
Catherine,  glancing  at  Mr.  Goulden. 

"  Yes,  thank  God,  they  are  very  good  still." 

"  Well,  sit  down  then  and  refresh  yourself.  It 
is  hard  work  to  be  always  walking." 

"  Yes,  indeed,  Madame  Bertha,  one  earns  the 
thirty  sous  that  one  gets." 

I  placed  the  chairs. 

"  Sit  down,  Anna-Marie,  and  give  me  your  stick." 

"  Well,  I  must  listen  to  you,  I  suppose,  but  I  can- 
not stay  long,  I  will  only  take  a  mouthful  and  then 
go." 

"  Yes,  yes,  that  is  settled,  Anna-Marie,"  said  Mr. 
Goulden;  "  we  will  not  hinder  you  long." 

We  sat  down,  and  Mr.  Goulden  served  us  at 


WATERLOO  91 

once.  Catherine  looked  at  me  and  smiled,  and  I 
said  to  myself,  "  Women  are  more  ingenious  than 
we,"  and  I  was  very  happy.  What  more  could  a 
man  wish  for  than  to  have  a  wife  with  sense  and 
spirit?  It  is  a  real  treasure,  and  I  have  often  seen 
that  men  are  happy  when  they  allow  themselves  to 
be  guided  by  such  a  woman.  You  can  easily  believe 
that  when  once  seated  at  the  table  near  the  fire, 
instead  of  being  out  in  the  mud,  with  the  sharp 
November  wind  whistling  in  her  thin  skirts,  she  no 
longer  thought  of  her  journey.  She  was  a  good 
creature  sixty  years  old,  who  still  supported  two 
children  of  her  son  who  died  some  years  before.  To 
travel  round  the  country  at  that  age,  with  the  sun 
and  rain  and  snow  on  your  back,  to  sleep  in  barns 
and  stables  on  straw,  and  three-quarters  of  the  time 
have  only  potatoes  to  eat  and  not  enough  of  them, 
does  not  make  one  despise  a  plate  of  good  hot  soup, 
a  piece  of  smoked  bacon  and  cabbage,  with  two  or 
three  glasses  of  wine  to  warm  the  heart.  No,  you 
must  look  at  things  as  they  are,  the  life  of  these 
poor  people  is  very  hard,  every  one  would  do  well 
to  try  a  pilgrimage  on  his  own  account. 

Anna-Marie  understood  the  difference  between 
being  at  table  and  on  the  road,  she  ate  with  a  good 
appetite,  and  she  took  real  pleasure  in  telling  us  what 
she  had  seen  during  her  last  round. 


92  WATERLOO 

"  Yes,"  said  she,  "  everything  is  going  on  well 
now.  All  the  processions  and  expiations  which  you 
have  seen  are  nothing,  they  will  grow  larger  and 
more  imposing  from  day  to  day.  And  you  know 
there  are  missionaries  coming  among  us,  as  they 
used  to  do  among  the  savages,  to  convert  us.  They 
are  coming  from  Mr.  de  Forbin-Janson  and  Mr.  de 
Ranzan,  because  the  corruption  of  the  times  is  so 
great.  And  the  convents  are  to  be  rebuilt,  and  the 
gates  along  the  roads  restored,  as  they  were  before 
the  twenty-five  years'  rebellion.  And  when  the 
pilgrims  arrive  at  the  convents,  they  will  only  have 
to  ring  and  they  will  be  admitted  at  once,  when 
the  brothers  who  serve,  will  bring  them  porringers 
of  rich  soup  with  meat  on  ordinary  days,  and  vege- 
table soup  with  fish  on  Fridays  and  Saturdays  and 
during  Lent.  In  that  way  piety  will  increase,  and 
everybody  will  make  pilgrimages.  But  the  pious 
women  of  Bischoffsheim  say,  that  only  those  who 
have  been  pilgrims  from  father  to  son,  like  us,  ought 
to  go;  that  each  one  ought  to  attend  to  his  work, 
that  the  peasants  should  belong  to  the  soil,  and  that 
the  lords  should  have  their  chateaux  again,  and 
govern  them.  I  heard  this  with  my  own  ears  from 
these  pious  women,  who  are  to  have  their  properties 
again  because  they  have  returned  from  exile,  and 
that  they  must  have  their  estates  in  order  to  build 


WATERLOO  93 

their  chapels  is  very  certain.  Oh !  if  that  were  only- 
done  now,  so  I  could  profit  by  it  in  my  old  age !  I 
have  fasted  long  enough,  and  my  little  grandchil- 
dren also.  I  would  take  them  with  me,  and  the 
priests  would  teach  them,  and  when  I  die  I  should 
have  the  consolation  of  seeing  them  in  a  good  way." 

On  hearing  her  recount  all  these  things  so  con- 
trary to  reason  we  were  much  moved,  for  she  wept 
as  she  imagined  her  little  girls  begging  at  the  door 
of  the  convent  and  the  brother  bringing  them  soup. 

"  And  you  know,  too,  that  Mr.  de  Ranzan  and 
the  Reverend  Father  Tarin  want  the  chateaux  re- 
built, and  the  woods  and  meadows  and  fields  given 
up  to  the  nobles,  and  in  the  meantime  that  the 
ponds  are  to  be  put  in  good  condition,  because  they 
belong  to  the  reverend  fathers,  who  have  no  time 
to  plough  or  sow  or  reap.  Everything  must  come  to 
them  of  itself." 

"  But  tell  us,  Anna-Marie,  is  all  this  quite  cer- 
tain? I  can  hardly  believe  that  such  great  happi- 
ness is  in  store  for  us." 

"It  is  quite  certain,  Mr.  Goulden.  The  Count 
d'Artois  wishes  to  secure  his  salvation,  and  in  order 
to  do  that  everything  must  be  set  in  order.  Mons. 
le  Vicar  Antoine  of  Marienthal  said  the  same 
things  last  week.  They  come  from  above, — these 
things, — and  the  hearts  of  the  people  must  be  ac- 


94 


WATERLOO 


customed  to  them  by  the  sermons  and  expiations. 
Those  who  will  not  submit,  like  the  Jews  and  Lu- 
therans, will  be  forced  to  do  so,  and  the  Jacobins  " 
— in  speaking  of  the  Jacobins  Anna-Marie  looked 
suddenly  at  Mr.  Goulden  and  blushed  up  to  her 
ears,  for  he  was  smiling. 

But  she  recovered  herself,  and  went  on: 

"  Among  the  Jacobins  there  are  some  very  good 
people,  but  the  poor  must  live.  The  Jacobins  have 
taken  the  property  of  the  poor  and  that  is  not  right." 

"  When  and  where  have  they  taken  the  property 
of  the  poor? " 

"  Listen,  Mr.  Goulden,  the  monks  and  the  Capu- 
chins had  the  estates  of  the  poor,  and  the  Jacobins 
have  divided  them  amongst  themselves." 

"  Ah !  I  understand,  I  understand,  the  monks 
and  Capuchins  had  your  property,  Anna-Marie;  I 
never  should  have  guessed  that." 

Mr.  Goulden  was  all  the  time  in  good-humor,  and 
Anna-Marie  said: 

"  We  shall  be  in  accord  at  last." 

"  Oh !  yes,  we  are,  we  are,"  said  he  pleasantly. 

I  listened  without  saying  anything,  as  I  was  nat- 
urally curious  to  hear  what  was  coming.  It  was 
easy  to  see  that  this  was  what  she  had  heard  on  her 
last  journey. 

She  said  also  that  miracles  were  coming  again  and 


WATERLOO  95 

that  Saint  Quirin,  Saint  Odille,  and  the  others  would 
not  work  miracles  under  the  usurper,  but  that  they 
had  commenced  already;  that  the  little  black  St. 
John  at  Kortzeroth,  on  seeing  the  ancient  prior  re- 
turn had  shed  tears. 

"  Yes,  yes,  I  understand,"  said  Mr.  Goulden, 
"  that  does  not  astonish  me  in  the  least,  after  all 
these  processions  and  atonements  the  saints  must 
work  miracles;  and  it  is  natural,  Anna-Marie,  quite 
natural." 

"  Without  doubt,  Mr.  Goulden,  and  when  we  see 
miracles,  faith  will  return.  That  is  clear,  that  is 
certain." 

The  dinner  was  finished,  and  Anna-Marie  seeing 
that  nothing  more  was  coming,  remembered  that 
she  was  late,  and  exclaimed: 

"  Oh!  Lord,  that  is  one  o'clock  striking.  The 
others  must  be  near  Ercheviller;  now  I  must  leave 
you." 

She  rose  and  took  her  stick  with  a  very  important 
air. 

"  Well !  bon  voyage,  Anna-Marie,  don't  make  us 
wait  so  long  next  time." 

"  Ah !  Mr.  Goulden,  if  I  do  not  sit  every  day  at 
your  table  it  is  not  my  fault." 

She  laughed,  and  as  she  took  up  her  bundle  she 
said: 


96  WATERLOO 

"  Well,  good-by,  and  for  the  kindness  you  have 
shown  me  I  will  pray  the  blessed  Saint  Quirin  to 
send  you  a  fine  fat  boy  as  fresh  and  rosy  as  a  lady- 
apple.  That  is  the  best  thing,  Madame  Bertha,  that 
an  old  woman  like  me  can  do  for  you." 

On  hearing  these  good  wishes,  I  said,  "  That 
old  woman  is  a  good  soul.  There  is  nothing  I  so 
much  wish  for  in  the  world.  May  God  hear  her 
prayer!  "  I  was  touched  by  that  good  wish. 

She  went  downstairs,  and  as  she  shut  the  door, 
Catherine  began 'to  laugh,  and  said: 

"  She  emptied  her  budget  this  time." 

"  Yes,  my  children,"  replied  Mr.  Goulden,  who 
was  quite  grave,  "  that  is  what  we  may  call  human 
ignorance.  You  would  believe  that  poor  creature 
had  invented  all  that,  but  she  has  picked  it  up  right 
and  left,  it  is  word  for  word  what  those  emigres 
think,  and  what  they  repeat  every  day  in  their 
journals,  and  what  the  preachers  say  every  day 
openly  in  all  the  churches.  Louis  XVIII.  troubles 
them,  he  has  too  much  good  sense  for  them,  but 
the  real  king  is  Monseigneur  the  Duke  d'Artois, 
who  wants  to  secure  his  salvation,  and  in  order  that 
this  may  be  done  everything  must  be  put  back 
where  it  was  before  the  (  rebellion  of  twenty-five 
years,'  and  all  the  national  property  must  be  given 
up  to  its  ancient  owners,  and  the  nobles  must  have 


WATERLOO  97 

their  rights  and  privileges  as  in  1788;  they  must 
occupy  all  the  grades  of  the  army,  and  the  Catholic 
religion  must  be  the  only  religion  in  the  state.  The 
Sabbath  and  fete  days  must  be  observed,  and  her- 
etics driven  from  all  the  offices,  and  the  priests  alone 
have  the  right  to  instruct  the  children  of  the  people, 
and  this  great  and  terrible  country,  which  carried 
its  ideas  of  Liberty,  Equality,  and  Fraternity  every- 
where by  means  of  its  good  sense  and  its  victories, 
and  which  never  would  have  been  vanquished  if 
the  Emperor  had  not  made  an  alliance  with  the 
kings  at  Tilsit,  this  nation,  which  in  a  few  years 
produced  so  many  more  great  captains  and  orators, 
learned  men  and  geniuses  of  all  kinds,  than  the 
noble  races  produced  in  a  thousand  years,  must  sur- 
render everything  and  go  back  to  tilling  the  earth, 
while  the  others,  who  are  not  one  in  a  thousand,  will 
go  on  from  father  to  son,  taking  everything  and 
gladdening  their  hearts  at  the  expense  of  the  peo- 
ple! Oh!  no  doubt  the  fields  and  meadows  and 
ponds  will  be  given  up  as  Anna-Marie  said,  and  that 
the  convents  will  be  rebuilt  in  order  to  please  Mons. 
le  Comte  d'Artois  and  help  him  to  gain  his  salvation 
— that  is  the  least  the  country  could  do  for  so  great 
a  prince!  " 

Then  Father  Goulden,  joining  his  hands,  looked 
upward  saying: 
7 


98  WATERLOO 

"  Lord  God,  Lord  God,  who  hast  wrought  so 
many  miracles  by  the  little  black  St.  John  of  Kort- 
zeroth,  if  thou  wouldst  permit  even  a  single  ray  of 
reason  to  enter  the  heads  of  Monseigneur  and  his 
friends,  I  believe  it  would  be  more  beautiful  than 
the  tears  of  the  little  saint !  And  that  other  one  on 
his  island,  with  his  clear  eyes  like  the  sparrow-hawk 
who  pretends  to  sleep  as  he  watches  the  unconscious 
geese  in  a  pool, — O  Lord,  a  few  strokes  of  his  wing 
and  he  is  upon  them,  the  birds  may  escape,  while 
we  shall  have  all  Europe  at  our  heels  again !  " 

He  said  all  this  very  gravely,  and  I  looked  at 
Catherine  to  know  whether  I  should  laugh  or  cry. 

Suddenly  he  sat  down,  saying: 

"  Come !  Joseph,  this  is  not  at  all  cheerful,  but 
what  can  we  do?  It  is  time  to  be  at  work.  Look, 
and  see  what  is  the  matter  with  Mr.  Jacob's  watch." 

Catherine  took  off  the  cloth,  and  each  one  went 
to  his  work. 


IX 

IT  was  winter.  Rain  fell  constantly,  mingled 
with  snow.  There  were  no  gutters,  and  the  wind 
blew  the  rain  as  it  fell  from  the  tiles  quite  into  the 
middle  of  the  street.  We  could  hear  it  pattering  all 
day  while  Catherine  was  running  about,  watching 
the  fire,  and  lifting  the  covers  of  the  saucepans, 
and  sometimes  singing  quietly  to  herself  as  she  sat 
down  to  her  spinning.  Father  Goulden  and  I  were 
so  accustomed  to  this  kind  of  life  that  we  worked 
on  without  thinking.  We  troubled  ourselves  about 
nothing,  the  table  was  laid  and  the  dinner  served 
exactly  on  the  stroke  of  noon.  At  night  Mr.  Goul- 
den went  out  after  supper  to  read  the  gazette  at 
Hoffman's,  with  his  old  cloak  wrapped  closely 
round  his  shoulders  and  his  big  fox-skin  cap  pulled 
down  over  his  neck. 

But  in  spite  of  that,  often  when  he  came  in  at  ten 
o'clock,  after  we  had  gone  to  bed,  we  heard  him 
cough ;  he  had  dampened  his  feet.  Then  Catherine 
would  say,  "  He  is  coughing  again,  he  thinks  he  is 

99 


loo  WATERLOO 

as  young  as  he  was  at  twenty,"  and  in  the  morning 
she  did  not  hesitate  to  reproach  him. 

"  Monsieur  Goulden,"  she  would  say,  "  you  are 
not  reasonable;  you  have  an  ugly  cold,  and  yet  you 
go  out  eVery  evening." 

"  Ah!  my  child,  what  would  you  have?  I  have 
got  the  habit  of  reading  the  gazette,  and  it  is 
stronger  than  I.  I  want  to  know  what  Benjamin 
Constant  and  the  rest  of  them  say,  it  is  like  a  sec- 
ond life  to  me  and  I  often  think  '  they  ought  to 
have  spoken  further  of  such  or  such  a  thing.  If 
Melchior  Goulden  had  been  there  he  would  have 
opposed  this  or  that,  and  it  would  not  have  failed 
to  produce  a  great  effect.'  r 

Then  he  would  laugh  and  shake  his  head  and 
say: 

"  Every  one  thinks  he  has  more  wit  and  good 
sense  than  the  others,  but  Benjamin  Constant  al- 
ways pleases  me." 

"We  could  say  nothing  more,  his  desire  to  read  the 
gazette  was  so  great.  One  day  Catherine  said  to 
him : 

"  If  you  wish  to  hear  the  news,  that  is  no  reason 
why  you  should  make  yourself  sick,  you  have  only 
to  do  as  the  old  carpenter  Carabin  does,  he  arranged 
last  week  with  Father  Hoffman,  and  he  sends  him 
the  journal  every  night  at  seven  o'clock,  after  the 


WATERLOO  101 

others  have  read  it,  for  which  he  pays  him  three 
francs  a  month.  In  this  way,  without  any  trouble 
to  himself,  Carabin  knows  everything  that  goes  on, 
and  his  wife,  old  Bevel,  also;  they  sit  by  the  fire 
and  talk  about  all  these  things  and  discuss  them 
together,  and  that  is  what  you  should  do." 

"  Ah !  Catherine,  that  is  an  excellent  idea,  but 
• — the  three  francs? " 

"  The  three  francs  are  nothing,"  said  I,  "  the 
principal  thing  is  not  to  be  sick,  you  cough  very 
badly  and  that  cannot  go  on." 

These  words,  far  from  offending,  pleased  him,  as 
they  proved  our  affection  for  him  and  that  he  ought 
to  listen  to  us. 

"  Very  well !  we  will  try  to  arrange  it  as  you 
wish,  and  the  rather  as  the  cafe  is  filled  with  half- 
pay  officers  from  morning  till  night,  and  they  pass 
the  journals  from  one  to  the  other  so  that  sometimes 
we  must  wait  two  hours  before  we  can  catch  one. 
Yes,  Catherine  is  right." 

He  went  that  very  day  to  see  Father  Hoffman,  so 
that  after  that,  Michel,  one  of  the  waiters  at  the 
cafe  brought  us  the  gazette  every  night  at  seven 
o'clock,  just  as  we  rose  from  the  table.  We  were 
happy  always  when  we  heard  him  coming  up  the 
stairs,  and  we  would  say,  "  There  comes  the  ga- 
zette." - 


102  WATERLOO     - 

Catherine  would  hurry  off  the  cloth  and  I  would 
put  a  big  bullet  of  wood  in  the  stove,  and  Mr.  Gould- 
en  would  draw  his  spectacles  from  their  case,  and 
while  Catherine  spun  and  I  smoked  my  pipe  like 
an  old  soldier,  and  watched  the  blaze  as  it  danced 
in  the  stove,  he  would  read  us  the  news  from 
Paris. 

You  cannot  imagine  the  happiness  and  satisfac- 
tion we  had  in  hearing  Benjamin  Constant  and  two 
or  three  others  maintain  the  same  opinions  which 
we  held  ourselves.  Sometimes  Mr.  Goulden  was 
forced  to  stop  to  wipe  his  spectacles,  and  then  Cath- 
erine would  exclaim: 

"  How  well  these  people  talk.  They  are  men  of 
good  sense.  Yes,  what  they  say  is  right — it  is  the 
simple  truth." 

And  we  all  approved  it.  Sometimes  Father  Gould- 
en  thought  that  they  ought  to  have  spoken  of  this 
or  that  a  little  more,  but  that  the  rest  was  all  very 
well.  Then  he  would  go  on  with  his  reading,  which 
lasted  till  ten  o'clock,  and  then  we  all  went  to  bed, 
reflecting  on  what  we  had  just  heard.  Outside  the 
wind  blew,  as  it  only  can  blow  at  Pfalzbourg,  and 
vanes  creaked  as  they  turned,  and  the  rain  beat 
against  the  walls,  while  we  enjoyed  the  warmth  and 
comfort,  and  thanked  God  till  sleep  came,  and  we 
forgot  everything.  Ah!  how  happily  we  sleep  with 


WATERLOO  103 

peace  in  our  souls,  and  when  we  have  strength  and 
health,  and  the  love  and  respect  of  those  whom  we 
love. 

Days,  weeks,  and  months  went  by,  and  we  be- 
came, after  a  manner,  politicians,  and  when  the 
ministers  were  going  to  speak,  we  thought : 

"  Now  the  beggars  want  to  deceive  us !  the  mis- 
erable race !  they  ought  to  be  driven  out,  every  one 
of  them!" 

Catherine  above  all  could  not  endure  them,  and 
when  Mother  Gredel  came  and  talked  as  before 
about  our  good  King,  Louis  XVIII.,  we  allowed  her 
to  talk  out  of  respect,  but  we  pitied  her  for  being 
so  blind  to  the  real  interests  of  the  country. 

It  must  be  remembered,  too,  that  these  emigres, 
ministers,  and  princes,  conducted  themselves  in  the 
most  insolent  manner  possible  toward  us.  If  the 
Count  d'Artois  and  his  sons  had  put  themselves  at 
the  head  of  the  Vendeeans  and  Bretons,  and 
marched  on  Paris  and  had  been  victorious,  they 
would  have  had  reason  to  say,  "  We  are  masters, 
and  will  make  laws  for  you."  But  to  be  driven  out 
at  first,  and  to  be  brought  back  by  the  Prussians 
and  the  Russians,  and  then  to  come  and  humiliate 
us,  that  was  contemptible,  and  the  older  I  grow  the 
more  I  am  confirmed  in  that  idea — it  was  shame- 
ful! 


IC4  WATERLOO 

Zebede  came  to  see  us  from  time  to  time,  and  he 
knew  all  that  was  in  the  gazette.  It  was  from  us 
that  he  first  learned,  that  the  young  emigres  had 
driven  General  Vandamme  from  the  presence  of 
the  King.  This  old  soldier,  who  had  just  returned 
from  a  Russian  prison,  and  whom  all  the  army  re- 
spected in  spite  of  his  misfortune  at  Kulm,  they 
conducted  from  the  royal  presence,  and  told  him 
that  was  not  his  place.  Vandamme  had  been  colonel 
of  a  regiment  at  Pf alzbourg,  and  you  cannot  imag- 
ine the  indignation  of  the  people  at  this  news. 

And  it  was  Zebede  who  told  us,  that  processes 
had  been  made  out  against  the  generals  on  half -pay, 
and  that  their  letters  were  opened  at  the  post,  that 
they  might  appear  like  traitors.  He  told  us  a  little 
afterward  that  they  were  going  to  send  away  the 
daughters  of  the  old  officers  who  were  at  the  school 
of  St.  Denis  and  give  them  a  pension  of  two  hun- 
dred francs;  and  later  still,  that  the  emigres  alone 
would  have  the  right  to  put  their  sons  in  the  schools 
at  "  St.  Cyr  "  and  "  la  Fleche  "  to  be  educated  as 
officers,  while  the  people's  sons  would  remain  sol- 
diers at  five  centimes  (one  cent)  a  day  for  centuries 
to  come. 

The  gazettes  told  the  same  stories,  but  Zebede 
knew  a  great  many  other  details — the  soldiers  knew 
everything. 


WATERLOO  105 

I  could  not  describe  Zebede's  face  to  you  as  he 
sat  behind  the  stove,  with  the  end  of  his  black  pipe 
between  his  teeth,  recounting  all  these  misfortunes. 
His  great  nose  would  turn  pale,  and  the  muscles 
would  twitch  around  the  corners  of  his  light  gray 
eyes,  and  he  would  pretend  to  laugh  from  time  to 
time,  and  murmur,  "  It  moves,  it  moves." 

"  And  what  do  the  other  soldiers  think  of  all 
this?  "  said  Father  Goulden. 

"  Ha !  they  think  it  is  pretty  well  when  they  have 
given  their  blood  to  France  for  twenty  years,  when 
they  have  made  ten,  fifteen,  and  twenty  campaigns, 
and  wear  three  chevrons,  and  are  riddled  with 
wounds,  to  hear  that  their  old  chiefs  are  driven 
from  their  posts,  their  daughters  turned  out  of  the 
schools,  and  that  the  sons  of  those  people  are  to  be 
their  officers  forever — that  delights  them,  Father 
Goulden!  "  and  his  face  quivered  even  to  his  ears 
as  he  said  this. 

"  That  is  terrible,  certainly,"  said  Father  Gould- 
en,  "  but  discipline  is  always  discipline  there.  The 
marshals  obey  the  ministers,  and  the  officers  the 
marshals,  and  the  soldiers  the  officers." 

"  You  are  right,"  said  Zebede,  "  but  there,  they 
are  beating  the  assembly." 

And  he  shook  hands  and  hurried  off  to  the  bar- 
racks. 


106  WATERLOO 

The  winter  passed  in  this  way,  while  the  indigna- 
tion increased  every  day.  The  city  was  full  of  of- 
ficers on  half-pay,  who  dared  not  remain  in  Paris, 
— lieutenants,  captains,  commandants,  and  colonels 
of  infantry  and  cavalry, — men  who  lived  on  a  crust 
of  bread  and  a  glass  of  wine  a  day,  and  who  were 
the  more  miserable  because  they  were  forced  to  keep 
up  an  appearance — think  of  such  men  with  their 
hollow  cheeks  and  their  hair  closely  cropped,  with 
sparkling  eyes  and  their  big  mustaches  and  their  old 
uniform  cloaks,  of  which  they  had  been  forced  to 
change  the  buttons,  see  them  promenading  by 
threes  and  sixes  and  tens  on  the  square,  with  their 
sword-canes  at  their  button-holes,  and  their  three- 
cornered  hats  so  old  and  worn,  though  still  well 
brushed;  you  could  not  help  thinking  that  they 
had  not  one  quarter  enough  to  eat. 

And  yet  we  were  compelled  to  say  to  ourselves, 
these  are  the  victors  of  Jemmapes,  of  Fleurus,  of 
Zurich,  of  Hohenlinden,  of  Marengo,  of  Auster- 
litz,  and  of  Friedland  and  Wagram.  If  we  are 
proud  of  being  Frenchmen,  neither  the  Comte 
d'Artois  nor  the  Duke  de  Berry  can  boast  of  being 
the  cause;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  these  men,  and 
now  they  leave  them  to  perish,  they  even  refuse 
them  bread  and  put  the  emigres  in  their  place.  It 
does  not  need  any  extraordinary  amount  of  com- 


WATERLOO  107 

mon-sense,  or  heart,  or  of  justice  to  discover  that 
this  is  contrary  to  nature. 

I  never  could  look  at  these  unhappy  men ;  it  made 
me  miserable.  If  you  have  been  a  soldier  for  only 
six  months,  your  respect  for  your  old  chiefs,  for 
those  whom  you  have  seen  in  the  very  front  under 
fire,  always  remains.  I  was  ashamed  of  my  country 
for  permitting  such  indignities. 

One  circumstance  I  shall  never  forget:  it  was 
the  last  of  January,  1815,  when  two  of  these  half- 
pay  officers — one  was  a  large,  austere,  gray-haired 
man,  known  as  Colonel  Falconette,  who  appeared 
to  have  served  in  the  infantry,  the  other  was  short 
and  thick  and  they  called  him  Commandant  Mar- 
garot,  and  he  still  wore  his  hussar  whiskers — came 
to  us  and  proposed  to  sell  a  splendid  watch.  It 
might  have  been  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning.  I  can 
see  them  now  as  they  came  gravely  in,  the  colonel 
with  his  high  collar,  and  the  other  one  with  his  head 
down  between  his  shoulders. 

The  watch  was  a  gold  one,  with  double  case;  a 
repeater  which  marked  the  seconds,  and  was  wound 
up  only  once  in  eight  days.  I  had  never  seen  such 
a  fine  one. 

While  Mr.  Goulden  examined  it  I  turned  round 
on  my  chair  and  looked  at  the  men,  who  seemed  to 
be  in  great  need  of  money,  especially  the  hussar. 


io8  WATERLOO 

His  brown,  bony  face,  his  big  red  mustaches,  and 
his  little  brown  eyes,  his  broad  shoulders  and  long 
arms,  which  hung  down  to  his  knees,  inspired  me 
with  great  respect.  I  thought  that  when  he  took 
his  sabre  his  long  arm  would  reach  a  good  way,  that 
his  eyes  would  burn  under  his  heavy  brows,  and  that 
the  parry  and  thrust  would  come  like  lightning.  I 
imagined  him  in  a  charge,  half  hidden  behind  his 
horse's  head,  with  the  point  advanced,  and  my  ad- 
miration was  greater  still.  I  suddenly  remembered 
that  Colonel  Falconette  and  Commandant  Margaret 
had  killed  some  Russian  and  Austrian  officers  in  a 
duel  in  the  rear  of  the  "  Green  Tree,"  when  the 
allies  were  passing  through  the  town  six  months 
ago. 

The  large  man  too,  without  any  shirt-collar,  al- 
though he  was  thin,  wrinkled,  and  pale,  and  his 
temples  were  gray  and  his  manner  cold,  seemed  re- 
spectable too. 

I  waited  to  hear  what  Father  Goulden  would  say 
about  the  watch.  He  did  not  raise  his  eyes,  but 
looked  at  it  with  profound  admiration,  while  the 
men  waited  quietly  like  those  who  suffer  from  not 
being  able  to  conceal  their  pain.  At  last  he  said : 

"  This,  gentlemen,  is  a  beautiful  watch,  fit  for  a 
prince? " 

"  Indeed  it  is/'  said  the  hussar,  "  and  it  was  from 


"IT   IS   WHAT    MAT   BE   CALLED   A   PRINCE'S   WATCH." 


WATERLOO  109 

a  prince  I  received  it  after  the  battle  of  Rabbe,"  and 
he  glanced  at  his  companion,  who  said  nothing. 

Mr.  Goulden  saw  that  they  were  in  great  need. 
He  took  off  his  black  silk  bonnet,  and  said,  as  he 
rose  slowly  from  his  seat: 

"  Gentlemen,  do  not  take  offence  at  what  I  am 
going  to  say.  I  am  like  you  an  old  soldier,  I  served 
France  under  the  Republic,  and  I  am  sure  it  must 
be  heart-breaking  to  be  forced  to  sell  such  a  thing 
as  that,  an  object  which  recalls  some  noble  action, 
the  souvenir  of  a  chief  whom  we  revere." 

I  had  never  heard  Father  Goulden  speak  with 
such  emotion,  his  bald  head  was  bowed  sadly,  and 
his  eyes  were  on  the  ground,  so  that  he  might  not 
see  the  pain  of  those  to  whom  he  was  speaking. 

The  commandant  grew  quite  red,  his  eyes  were 
dim,  his  great  fingers  worked,  and  the  colonel  was 
pale  as  death.  I  wished  myself  away. 

Mr.  Goulden  went  on,  "  This  watch  is  worth 
more  than  a  thousand  francs,  I  have  not  so  much 
money  in  hand,  and  besides  you  would  doubtless 
regret  to  part  with  such  a  souvenir.  I  will  make 
you  this  offer,  leave  the  watch  with  me,  I  will  hang 
it  in  my  window — it  shall  always  be  yours — and  I 
will  advance  you  two  hundred  francs,  which  you 
shall  repay  me  when  you  take  it  away." 

On  hearing  this,  the  hussar  extended  his  two 


no  WATERLOO 

great  hairy  hands,  as  if  to  embrace  Father 
Goulden. 

"  You  are  a  good  patriot,"  he  exclaimed,  "  Colin 
told  us  so.  Ah !  sir,  I  shall  never  forget  the  service 
you  have  rendered  me.  This  watch  I  received  from 
Prince  Eugene  for  bravery  in  action,  it  is  dear  to 
me  as  my  own  blood,  but  poverty " 

"  Commandant !  "  exclaimed  the  other,  turning 
pale. 

"  Colonel,  permit  me !  we  are  old  comrades  to- 
gether. They  are  starving  us,  they  treat  us  like 
Cossacks.  They  are  too  cowardly  to  shoot  us  out- 
right." 

He  could  be  heard  all  over  the  house.  Catherine 
and  I  ran  into  the  kitchen  in  order  not  to  see  the 
sad  spectacle.  Mr.  Goulden  soothed  him,  and  we 
heard  him  say: 

"  Yes,  yes,  gentlemen,  I  know  all  that,  and  I  put 
myself  in  your  place." 

"  Come !  Margarot,  be  quiet,"  said  the  colonel. 
And  this  went  on  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour. 

At  last  we  heard  Mr.  Goulden  count  out  the 
money,  and  the  hussar  said: 

"  Thank  you,  sir,  thank  you !  If  ever  you  have 
occasion,  remember  the  Commandant  Margaret." 

We  were  glad  to  hear  the  door  open,  and  to  hear 
them  go  downstairs,  for  Catherine  and  I  were  much 


WATERLOO  in 

pained  by  what  we  had  heard  and  seen.  We  went 
back  to  the  room,  and  Mr.  Goulden,  who  had  been 
to  show  the  officers  out,  came  back  with  his  head 
bare.  He  was  very  much  disturbed. 

"  These  unhappy  men  are  right,"  said  he,  "  the 
conduct  of  the  government  toward  them  is  horrible, 
but  it  will  have  to  pay  for  it  sooner  or  later." 

We  were  sad  all  day,  but  Mr.  Goulden  showed 
me  the  watch  and  explained  its  beauties,  and  told 
me,  we  ought  always  to  have  such  models  before  us, 
and  then  we  hung  it  in  our  window. 

From  that  moment  the  idea  never  left  me  that 
matters  would  end  badly,  and  that  even  if  the  emi- 
gres stopped  here,  they  had  done  too  much  mischief 
already.  I  could  still  hear  the  commandant  ex- 
claiming, that  they  treated  the  army  like  Cossacks. 
All  those  processions  and  expiations  and  sermons 
about  the  rebellion  of  twenty-five  years,  seemed  to 
me  to  be  a  terrible  confusion,  and  I  felt  that  the 
restoration  of  the  national  property  and  the  rebuild- 
ing of  the  convents  would  be  productive  of  no 
good. 


IT  was  about  the  beginning  of  March,  when  a 
rumor  began  to  circulate  that  the  Emperor  had  just 
landed  at  Cannes.  This  rumor  was  like  the  wind, 
nobody  ever  could  tell  where  it  came  from.  Pf  alz- 
bourg  is  two  hundred  leagues  from  the  sea,  and 
many  a  mountain  and  valley  lies  between  them.  An 
extraordinary  circumstance,  I  remember,  happened 
on  the  6th  of  March.  When  I  rose  in  the  morning, 
I  pushed  open  the  window  of  our  little  chamber 
which  was  just  under  the  eaves,  and  looked  across 
the  street  at  the  old  black  chimneys  of  Spitz  the 
baker,  and  saw  that  a  little  snow  still  remained  be- 
hind them.  The  cold  was  sharp,  though  the  sun 
was  shining,  and  I  thought,  "  What  fine  weather 
for  a  march!  "  Then  I  remembered  how  happy  we 
used  to  be  in  Germany,  as  we  put  out  our  camp- 
fires  and  set  off  on  such  fine  mornings  as  this,  with 
our  guns  on  our  shoulders,  listening  to  the  footfalls 
of  the  battalion  echoing  from  the  hard  frozen 
ground.  I  do  not  know  how  it  was,  but  suddenly 
the  Emperor  came  into  my  mind,  and  I  saw  him 

112 


WATERLOO  113 

with  his  gray  coat  and  round  shoulders,  with  his 
hat  drawn  over  his  eyes,  marching  along  with  the 
Old  Guard  behind  him. 

Catherine  was  sweeping  our  little  room,  and  I 
was  almost  dreaming  as  I  leaned  out  into  the  dry, 
clear  air,  when  we  heard  some  one  coming  up  the 
stairs.  Catherine  stopped  her  sweeping  and  said : 

"  It  is  Mr.  Goulden." 

I  also  recognized  his  step,  and  was  surprised,  as 
he  seldom  came  into  our  chamber.  He  opened  the 
door  and  said  in  a  low  voice : 

"  My  children,  the  Emperor  landed  on  the  1st  of 
March  at  Cannes,  near  Toulon,  and  is  marching 
upon  Paris." 

He  said  no  more,  but  sat  down  to  take  breath. 
We  looked  at  each  other  in  astonishment,  but  a 
moment  after  Catherine  asked : 

"  Is  it  in  the  gazette,  Mr.  Goulden?  " 

"  No"  he  replied,  "  either  they  know  nothing  of 
it  over  there,  or  else  they  conceal  it  from  us.  But, 
in  Heaven's  name,  not  a  word  of  all  this,  or  we 
shall  be  arrested.  This  morning,  about  five  o'clock, 
Zebede,  who  mounted  guard  at  the  French  gate, 
came  to  let  me  know  of  it;  he  knocked  downstairs, 
did  you  hear  him?  " 

"  No !  we  were  asleep,  Mr.  Goulden." 

"  Well !  I  opened  the  window  to  see  what  was  the 


II4  WATERLOO 

matter,  and  then  I  went  down  and  unlocked  the 
door.  Zebede  told  it  to  me  as  a  fact,  and  says  the 
soldiers  are  to  be  confined  to  the  barracks  till  fur- 
ther orders.  It  seems  they  are  afraid  of  the  soldiers, 
but  how  can  they  stop  Bonaparte  without  them? 
They  cannot  send  the  peasants,  whom  they  have 
stripped  of  everything,  against  him,  nor  the  bour- 
geoisie, whom  they  have  treated  like  Jacobins.  Now 
is  a  good  time  for  the  emigres  to  show  themselves. 
But  silence,  above  all  things,  the  most  profound  si- 
lence! " 

He  rose,  and  we  all  went  down  to  the  workshop. 
Catherine  made  a  good  fire,  and  everyone  went 
about  his  work  as  usual. 

That  day  everything  was  quiet,  and  the  next 
day  also.  Some  neighbors,  Father  Riboc  and  Off- 
ran,  came  in  to  see  us,  under  pretence  of  having 
their  watches  cleaned. 

"  Anything  new,  neighbor?  "  they  inquired. 

"  No,  indeed!  "  replied  Mr.  Goulden.  "  Every- 
thing is  quiet.  Do  you  hear  anything?  " 

"  No." 

But  you  could  see  by  their  eyes,  that  they  had 
heard  the  news.  Zebede  stayed  at  the  barracks. 
The  half-pay  officers  filled  the  cafe  from  morning 
till  night,  but  not  a  word  transpired,  the  affair  was 
too  serious.  On  the  third  day  these  officers,  who 
were  boiling  over  with  impatience,  were  seen  run- 


WATERLOO  115 

rung  back  and  forth,  their  very  faces  showing  their 
terrible  anxiety.  If  they  had  had  horses  or  even 
arms,  I  am  sure  they  would  have  attempted  some- 
thing. But  the  guards  went  and  came  also,  with 
old  Chancel  at  their  head,  and  a  courier  was  sent  off 
hourly  to  Saarbourg.  The  excitement  increased, 
nobody  felt  any  interest  in  his  work.  We  soon 
learned  through  the  commercial  travellers,  who  ar- 
rived at  the  "  City  of  Basle,"  that  the  upper  Rhine 
provinces  and  the  Jura  had  risen,  and  that  regi- 
ments of  cavalry  and  infantry  were  following  each 
other  from  Besangon,  and  that  heavy  forces  had 
been  sent  against  the  usurper. 

One  of  these  travellers  having  spoken  rather  too 
freely,  was  ordered  to  quit  the  town  at  once,  the 
brigadier  in  command  having  examined  his  pass- 
port and,  fortunately  for  him,  found  it  properly 
made  out. 

I  have  seen  other  revolutions  since  then,  but  never 
such  excitement  as  reigned  on  the  8th  of  March  be- 
tween four  and  five  in  the  evening,  when  the  order 
arrived  for  the  departure  of  the  first  and  second  bat- 
talions fully  equipped  for  service  for  Lons-le-Saul- 
nier.  It  was  only  then  that  the  danger  was  fully 
realized,  and  every  one  thought,  "  It  is  not  the  Duke 
d'Angouleme  nor  the  Duke  de  Berry  that  we  need 
to  arrest  the  progress  of  Bonaparte,  but  the  whole 
of  Europe." 


n6  WATERLOO 

The  laces  of  the  officers  on  half-pay  lighted  up 
as  with  a  burst  of  sunshine,  and  they  breathed  freely 
again.  About  five  o'clock  the  first  roll  of  the  drum 
was  heard  on  the  square,  when  suddenly  Zebede 
rushed  in. 

"  Well!  "  said  Father  Goulden  to  him. 

"  The  first  two  battalions  are  going  away,"  he  re- 
plied. He  was  very  pale. 

"  They  are  sent  to  stop  him,"  said  Mr.  Goulden. 

"  Yes,"  said  Zebede,  winking,  "  they  are  going 
to  stop  him." 

The  drums  still  rolled.  He  went  downstairs,  four 
at  a  time.  I  followed  him.  At  the  foot  of  the 
stairs,  and  while  he  was  on  the  first  step,  he  seized 
me  by  the  arm,  and  raising  his  shako,  whispered  in 
my  ear: 

"  Look,  Joseph,  do  you  recognize  that?  " 

I  saw  the  old  tri-colored  cockade  in  the  lining. 

"  That  is  ours,"  he  said,  "  all  the  soldiers  have  it." 

I  hardly  had  time  to  glance  at  it  when  he  shook 
my  hand  and,  turning  away,  hurried  to  Fouquet's 
corner.  I  went  upstairs,  saying  to  myself,  "  Now 
for  another  breaking  up,  in  which  Europe  will  be 
involved;  now  for  the  conscription,  Joseph,  the 
abolition  of  all  permits  and  all  the  other  things  that 
we  read  of  in  the  gazettes.  In  the  place  of  quiet,  we 
must  be  plunged  in  confusion;  instead  of  listening 
to  the  ticking  of  clocks,  we  must  hear  the  thunder 


WATERLOO  117 

of  cannon;  instead  of  talking  of  convents,  we  must 
talk  of  arsenals;  instead  of  smelling  flowers  and  in- 
cense, we  must  smell  powder.  Great  God!  will 
this  never  come  to  an  end?  Everything  would  go 
prosperously  without  missionaries  and  emigres. 
What  a  calamity!  What  a  calamity!  We  who 
work  and  ask  for  nothing  are  always  the  ones  who 
have  to  pay.  All  these  crimes  are  committed  for 
our  happiness,  while  they  mock  us  and  treat  us  like 
brutes."  A  great  many  other  ideas  passed  through 
my  head,  but  what  good  did  they  do  me?  I  was 
not  the  Comte  d'Artois,  nor  was  I  the  Duke  de 
Berry;  and  one  must  be  a  prince  in  order  that  his 
ideas  may  be  of  consequence,  and  that  every  word 
he  speaks  may  pass  for  a  miracle. 

Father  Goulden  could  not  keep  still  a  moment 
that  afternoon.  He  was  just  as  impatient  as  I  was 
when  I  was  expecting  my  permit  to  marry.  He 
would  look  out  of  the  window  every  moment  and 
say,  "  There  will  be  great  news  to-day;  the  orders 
have  been  given,  and  there  is  no  need  of  hiding  any- 
thing from  us  any  longer."  And  from  time  to  time 
he  would  exclaim, "  Hush !  here  is  the  mail  coach !  " 

We  would  listen,  but  it  was  Lanche's  cart  with 
his  old  horses,  or  Baptiste's  boat  at  the  bridge.  It 
was  quite  dark  and  Catherine  had  laid  the  cloth, 
when  for  the  twentieth  time  Mr.  Goulden  ex- 
claimed, "  Listen ! " 


n8  WATERLOO 

This  time  we  heard  a  distant  rumbling,  which 
came  nearer  every  moment.  Without  waiting  an 
instant,  he  ran  to  the  alcove  and  slipped  on  his  big 
waistcoat,  crying: 

"  Joseph,  it  has  come." 

He  rolled  down  the  stairs,  as  it  were,  and  from 
seeing  him  in  such  a  hurry  the  desire  to  hear  the 
news  seized  me,  and  I  followed  him.  We  had  hardly 
reached  the  street  when  the  coach  came  through  the 
dark  gateway,  with  its  two  red  lanterns,  and  rushed 
past  us  like  a  thunder-bolt.  We  ran  after  it,  but  we 
were  not  alone ;  from  all  sides  we  heard  the  people 
running  and  shouting,  "  There  it  is,  there  it  is!  " 
The  post-office  was  in  the  rue  des  Foins,  near  the 
German  gate,  and  the  coach  went  straight  down  to 
the  college  and  turned  there  to  the  right.  The  far- 
ther we  went  the  greater  was  the  crowd ;  it  poured 
from  every  door. 

The  old  mayor,  Mr.  Parmentier,  his  secretary, 
Eschbach,  and  Cauchois,  the  tax-gatherer,  and 
many  other  notables  were  in  the  crowd,  talking  to- 
gether and  saying: 

"  The  decisive  moment  has  come." 

When  we  turned  into  the  Place  d'Armes,  we  saw 
the  crowd  already  gathered  in  front  of  the  post- 
office  ;  innumerable  faces  were  leaning  over  the  iron 
balustrade,  one  trying  to  get  before  the  other,  and  in- 
terrogating the  courier,  who  did  not  answer  a  word. 


PEOPLE  WERE  HEARD  SHOUTING,  "THERE  IT  Ih   THERE  IT  IS  !  " 


WATERLOO  119 

The  postmaster,  Mr.  Pernette,  opened  the  win- 
dow, which  was  lighted  up  from  the  inside,  and 
the  package  of  letters  and  papers  flew  from  the 
coach  through  this  window  into  the  room;  the  win- 
dow closed,  and  the  crack  of  the  postilion's  whip 
warned  the  crowd  to  get  out  of  the  way. 

"The  papers,  the  papers!  "  shouted  the  crowd 
from  every  side.  The  coach  set  off  again  and  dis- 
appeared through  the  German  gate. 

"  Let  us  go  to  Hoffman's  cafe,"  said  Mr.  Gould- 
en.  "  Hurry !  the  papers  will  go  there,  and  if  we 
wait  we  shall  not  be  able  to  get  in." 

As  we  crossed  the  square  we  heard  some  one  run- 
ning behind  us,  and  the  clear,  strong  voice  of  Marga- 
rot,  saying: 

"  They  have  come,  I  have  them." 

All  the  half -pay  officers  were  following  him,  and 
as  the  moon  was  shining  we  could  see  they  were 
coming  at  a  great  pace.  We  rushed  into  the  cafe 
and  were  hardly  seated  near  the  great  stove  of  Delft 
ware,  when  the  crowd  at  once  poured  in  through 
both  doors.  You  should  have  seen  the  faces  of  the 
half -pay  officers  at  that  moment.  Their  great  three- 
cornered  hats,  defiling  under  the  lamps,  their  thin 
faces  with  their  long  mustaches  hanging  down, 
their  sparkling  eyes  peering  into  the  darkness,  made 
them  look  like  savages  in  pursuit  of  something. 
Some  of  them  squinted  in  their  impatience  and 


120  WATERLOO 

anxiety,  and  I  think  that  they  did  not  see  anything 
at  all,  and  that  their  thoughts  were  elsewhere  with 
Bonaparte; — that  was  fearful. 

The  people  kept  coming  and  coming,  till  we  were 
suffocating,  and  were  obliged  to  open  the  windows. 
Outside  in  the  street,  where  the  cavalry  barracks 
were,  and  on  the  Fountain  Square,  there  was  a  great 
tumult. 

"  We  did  well  to  come  at  once,"  said  Mr.  Gould- 
en,  springing  on  a  chair  and  steadying  himself 
with  his  hand  on  the  stove.  Others  were  doing  the 
same  thing,  and  I  followed  his  example.  Nothing 
could  be  seen  but  the  eager  faces  and  the  big  hats 
of  the  officers,  and  the  great  crowd  on  the  square 
outside  in  the  moonlight.  The  tumult  increased 
and  a  voice  cried,  "  Silence."  It  was  the  Com- 
mandant Margaret,  who  had  mounted  upon  a  table. 
Behind  him  the  gendarmes  Keltzand  Werner  looked 
on,  and  at  all  the  open  windows  people  were  lean- 
ing in  to  hear.  On  the  square  at  the  same  instant 
somebody  repeated,  "  Silence,  silence."  And  it  was 
at  once  so  still  that  you  would  have  said,  there  was 
not  a  soul  there. 

The  commandant  read  the  gazette,  his  clear 
voice  pronouncing  every  word  with  a  sort  of  quaver 
in  it,  resembling  the  tic-tac  of  our  clock  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  night,  and  it  could  be  distinctly  heard  in 
the  square.  The  reading  lasted  a  long  time,  for  the 


WATERLOO  121 

commandant  omitted  nothing.  I  remember  it  com- 
menced by  declaring  that  the  one  called  Bonaparte, 
a  public  enemy,  who  for  fifteen  years  had  held 
France  in  despotic  slavery,  had  escaped  from  his 
island,  and  had  had  the  audacity  to  set  his  foot  on 
the  soil  deluged  with  blood  through  his  own  crimes, 
but  that  the  troops — faithful  to  the  King  and  to 
the  nation — were  on  the  march  to  stop  him,  and 
that  in  view  of  the  general  horror,  Bonaparte,  with 
the  handful  of  beggars  that  accompanied  him,  had 
fled  into  the  mountains,  but  that  he  was  surrounded 
on  all  sides  and  could  not  escape. 

I  remember  too,  according  to  that  gazette  all  the 
marshals  had  hastened  to  place  their  glorious  swords 
at  the  service  of  the  King,  the  father  of  the  people 
and  of  the  nation,  and  that  the  illustrious  Marshal 
Ney,  Prince  of  Moscowa,  had  kissed  the  King's  hand 
and  promised  to  bring  Bonaparte  to  Paris  dead  or 
alive.  After  that  there  were  some  Latin  words 
which  no  doubt  had  been  put  there  for  the  priests. 

Prom  time  to  time  I  heard  some  one  behind  me 
laughing  and  jeering  at  the  "journal.  On  turning 
round,  I  saw  that  it  was  Professor  Burguet  and  two 
or  three  other  noted  men  who  had  been  taken  after 
the  "  Hundred  days,"  and  had  been  forced  to  re- 
main at  Bourges  because,  as  Father  Goulden  said, 
they  had  too  much  spirit.  That  shows  plainly  that 
it  is  better  to  keep  still  at  such  times,  if  one  does 


122  WATERLOO 

not  wish  to  fight  on  either  side;  for  words  are  of 
no  use,  but  to  get  us  into  difficulty. 

But  there  was  something  worse  still  toward  the 
end,  when  the  commandant  commenced  to  read  the 
decrees. 

The  first  indicated  the  movement  of  the  troops, 
and  the  second,  commanded  all  Frenchmen  to  fall 
upon  Bonaparte,  to  arrest  and  deliver  him  dead  or 
alive,  because  he  had  put  himself  out  of  the  pale  of 
law. 

At  that  moment  the  commandant,  who  had  until 
then  only  laughed  when  he  read  the  name  of  Bona- 
parte, and  whose  bony  face  had  only  trembled  a 
little  as  it  was  lighted  up  by  the  lamp — at  that  mo- 
ment his  aspect  changed  completely,  I  never  saw 
anything  more  terrible;  his  face  contracted,  fold 
upon  fold,  his  little  eyes  blazed  like  those  of  a  cat, 
and  his  mustaches  and  whiskers  stood  on  end;  he 
seized  the  gazette  and  tore  it  into  a  thousand  pieces, 
and  then  pale  as  death  he  raised  himself  to  his  full 
height,  extended  his  long  arms,  and  shouted  in  a 
voice  so  loud  that  it  made  our  flesh  creep,  Vive 
VEmpereur!  Immediately  all  the  half -pay  officers 
raised  their  three-cornered  hats,  some  in  their  hands 
and  some  on  the  end  of  their  sword-canes,  and  re- 
peated with  one  voice,  Vive  VEmpereur! 

You  would  have  thought  the  roof  was  coming 
down.  I  felt  just  as  if  some  one  had  thrown  cold 


WATERLOO  123 

water  down  my  back.  I  said  to  myseli.  '  It  is  all 
over  now.  What  is  the  use  in  preaching  peace  to 
such  people  ? " 

Outside  among  the  groups  of  citizens,  the  soldiers 
of  the  post  repeated  the  cry,  Vive  VEmpereur.  And 
as  I  looked  in  great  anxiety  to  see  what  the  gen- 
darmes would  do,  they  retired  without  saying  a 
word,  being  old  soldiers  also. 

But  it  was  not  yet  over.  As  the  commandant  was 
getting  down  from  the  table,  an  officer  suggested 
that  they  should  carry  him  in  triumph.  They  seized 
him  by  the  legs,  and  forcing  the  crowd  aside,  carried 
him  around  the  room,  screaming  like  madmen,  Vive 
VEmpereur.  He  was  so  affected  by  the  honor 
shown  him  by  his  comrades  and  by  hearing  them 
shout  what  he  so  much  loved  to  hear,  that  he  sat 
there  with  his  long  hairy  hands  on  their  shoulders, 
and  his  head  above  their  great  hats,  and  wept.  No 
one  would  have  believed  that  such  a  face  could 
weep;  that  alone  was  sufficient  to  upset  you  and 
make  you  tremble.  He  said  not  a  word;  his  eyes 
were  closed  and  the  tears  ran  down  his  nose  and  his 
long  mustaches.  I  was  looking  on  with  all  my  eyes, 
as  you  can  imagine,  when  Father  Goulden  got  down 
from  his  chair  and  pulled  me  by  the  arm,  saying: 

"  Joseph,  let  us  go,  it  is  time." 

Behind  us  the  hall  was  already  empty.  Every- 
body had  hurried  out  by  the  brewer  Klein's  alley 


124 


WATERLOO 


for  fear  of  being  mixed  up  in  a  disagreeable  affair, 
and  we  went  that  way  also. 

As  we  crossed  the  square,  Father  Goulden  said, 
"  There  is  danger  that  matters  will  take  a  bad  turn. 
To-morrow  the  gendarmerie  may  commence  to  act, 
the  Commandant  Margaret  and  the  others  have  not 
the  air  of  men  who  will  allow  themselves  to  be  ar- 
rested. The  soldiers  of  the  third  battalion  will  take 
their  part,  if  they  have  not  already.  The  city  is  in 
their  power." 

He  was  talking  to  himself,  and  I  thought  as  he 
did. 

When  we  reached  home,  Catherine  was  waiting 
anxiously  for  us  in  the  workshop.  We  told  her  all 
that  had  happened.  The  table  was  set,  but  nobody 
was  inclined  to  eat.  Mr.  Goulden  drank  a  glass  of 
wine,  and  then  as  he  took  off  his  shoes  he  said  to  us: 

"  My  children,  after  what  we  have  just  heard  we 
may  be  sure  that  the  Emperor  will  reach  Paris;  the 
soldiers  wish  it,  and  the  peasants  desire  it,  and  if  he 
has  considered  well  since  he  has  been  on  his  island 
and  will  give  up  his  ideas  about  war,  and  will  re- 
spect the  treaties,  the  bourgeoise  will  ask  nothing 
better,  especially  if  we  have  a  good  Constitution 
that  will  guarantee  to  everyone  his  liberty,  which  is 
the  best  of  all  good  things.  Let  us  wish  it  for  our- 
selves and  for  him.  Good-night." 


XI 

THE  next  day  was  Friday  and  market  day,  and 
there  was  nothing  talked  of  in  the  whole  town  but 
the  great  news.  Great  numbers  of  peasants  from 
Alsace  and  Lorraine  came  filing  into  town  on  their 
carts,  some  in  blouses,  some  in  their  waistcoats,  some 
in  three-cornered  hats,  and  some  in  their  cotton 
caps,  under  pretence  of  selling  their  grain,  their  bar- 
ley and  oats,  but  in  reality  to  find  out  what  was 
going  on. 

You  could  hear  nothing  but  "  Get  up,  Fox!  gee 
ho,  Gray!  "  and  the  rolling  of  the  wheels  and  the 
cracking  of  the  whips.  And  the  women  were  not  be- 
hindhand, they  arrived  from  the  Houpe,  from 
Dagsberg,  Ercheviller,  and  Baraques,  with  their 
scanty  skirts  and  with  great  baskets  on  their  heads, 
striding  and  hurrying  along.  Everybody  passed 
under  our  windows,  and  Mr.  Goulden  said,  "  What 
an  excitement  there  is,  what  a  rush!  It  is  easy  to 
see  that  there  is  another  spirit  in  the  land.  Nobody 
is  marching  now  with  candles  in  his  hand  and  a  sur- 
plice on  his  back." 

125 


126  WATERLOO 

He  seemed  to  be  satisfied,  and  that  proved  how 
much  all  these  ceremonies  had  annoyed  him.  At 
last  about  eight  o'clock  it  was  necessary  to  set  about 
our  work  again,  and  Catherine  went  out  as  usual  to 
buy  our  butter  and  eggs  and  vegetables  for  the 
week.  At  ten  o'clock  she  came  back  again. 

"  Oh  !  Heavens  !  "  said  she,  "  everything  is 
topsy-turvy."  And  then  she  related  how  the  half- 
pay  officers  were  promenading  with  their  sword- 
canes,  with  the  Commandant  Margarot  in  their 
midst,  that  on  the  square,  in  the  market,  in  the 
church,  and  around  the  stands,  everywhere  the  peas- 
ants and  citizens  were  shaking  hands  and  taking 
snuff  together,  and  saying,  "  Ah !  now  trade  is  brisk 
again." 

And  she  told  us  also  that  during  the  night  procla- 
mations had  been  posted  up  at  the  town-house  and 
on  the  three  doors  of  the  church,  and  even  against 
the  pillars  of  the  market,  but  that  the  gendarmes 
had  torn  them  down  early  in  the  morning,  in  fact, 
that  everything  was  in  commotion.  Father  Gould- 
en  had  risen  from  the  counter  in  order  to  listen  to 
her,  and  I  turned  round  on  my  chair  and  thought  : 

"  All  that  is  good,  very  good,  but  at  this  rate  your 
leave  of  absence  will  soon  be  recalled.  Everything 
is  moving  and  you  must  also  move,  Joseph  !  Instead 
pf  remaining  here  quietly  with  your  wife,  you  will 


WATERLOO  127 

have  to  take  your  cartridge-box  and  knapsack  and 
musket  and  two  packages  of  cartridges  on  your 
back." 

As  I  looked  at  Catherine,  who  did  not  think  of 
the  bad  side  of  affairs,  Weissenfels,  Lutzen,  and 
Leipzig  passed  through  my  mind,  and  I  was  quite 
melancholy.  While  we  were  all  so  sober,  the  door 
opened  and  Aunt  Gredel  walked  in.  At  first  you 
would  have  thought  she  was  quite  composed. 

"  Good-morning,  Mr.  Goulden  ;  good-morning, 
my  children,"  said  she,  putting  down  her  basket  be- 
hind the  stove. 

"  Are  you  well  too,  Mother  Gredel?  "  asked  Mr. 
Goulden. 

"Ah  !  well  !  well  I"  said  she. 

I  saw  that  she  had  set  her  teeth,  and  that  two  red 
spots  burned  on  her  cheeks.  She  crammed  her  hair 
which  was  hanging  down  over  her  ears,  with  a  single 
thrust  into  her  cap,  and  looked  at  us  one  after  the 
other  with  her  gray  eyes  to  see  what  we  thought,  and 
then  she  commenced. 

"  It  seems  that  the  rascal  has  escaped  from  his 
island." 

"Of  what  rascal  do  you  speak?"  asked  Mr. 
Goulden  calmly. 

"  Oh  !  you  know  very  well  of  whom  I  speak,  I 
speak  of  your  Bonaparte." 


128  WATERLOO 

Mr.  Goulden,  seeing  her  anger,  turned  round  to 
his  counter  to  avoid  a  dispute.  He  seemed  to  be 
examining  a  watch,  and  I  followed  his  example. 

"  Yes,"  said  she,  speaking  still  louder,  "  his  evil 
deeds  are  commencing  again  ;  just  as  we  thought 
all  was  finished  !  and  he  comes  back  again  worse 
than  ever  !  What  a  pest  !  " 

I  could  hear  her  voice  tremble.  Mr.  Goulden 
kept  on  with  his  work,  and  asked,  without  turning 
round,  "Whose  fault  is  it,  Mother  Gredel?  Do 
you  think  that  those  processions,  atonements,  and 
the  sermons  in  regard  to  the  national  domains  and 
the  '  rebellion  of  twenty-five  years,'  these  continual 
menaces  of  establishing  the  old  order  of  things,  the 
order  to  close  the  shops  during  the  service,  do  you 
think  all  that  could  continue  ?  Did  any  one,  let  me 
ask,  ever  see  since  the  world  began,  anything  more 
calculated  to  rouse  a  nation  against  those  who  at- 
tempt to  degrade  it !  You  would  have  said  that  Bona- 
parte himself  had  whispered  in  the  ears  of  those 
Bourbons,  all  the  stupidities  which  would  be  likely 
to  disgust  the  people.  Tell  me,  might  we  not  ex- 
pect just  what  has  come  to  pass?  " 

He  kept  on  looking  at  the  watch  through  his  glass 
in  order  to  keep  calm.  While  he  was  speaking  I 
had  looked  at  Aunt  Gredel  out  of  the  corner  of  my 
eye.  She  had  changed  color  two  or  three  times,  and 


WATERLOO 


129 


Catherine,  who  was  behind  us  near  the  stove,  made 
signs  to  her  not  to  make  trouble  in  our  house,  but 
the  wilful  woman  disregarded  all  signs. 

"  You,  too,  are  satisfied  then,  are  you?  you  change 
from  one  day  to  another  like  the  rest  of  them,  you 
always  bring  out  your  republic  when  it  suits  you." 

On  hearing  this,  Mr.  Goulden  coughed  softly,  as 
if  he  had  something  in  his  throat,  and  for  half  a  min- 
ute he  seemed  to  be  considering,  while  aunt  looked 
on.  He  recovered  himself  at  last  and  said  slowly  : 
"  You  are  wrong,  Madame  Gredel,  to  reproach  me, 
for  if  I  had  wished  to  change  I  should  have  begun 
sooner.  Instead  of  being  a  clock-maker  in  Pfalz- 
bourg  I  should  have  been  a  colonel  or  a  general,  like 
the  others,  but  I  always  have  been,  I  am  now,  and 
shall  remain  till  I  die,  for  the  Republic  and  the 
Rights  of  Man." 

Then  he  turned  suddenly  round,  and  looking  at 
aunt  from  head  to  foot,  and  raising  his  voice,  he 
went  on  :  "  And  that  is  the  reason  why  I  like  Bona- 
parte better  than  the  Comte  d'Artois,  the  emigres, 
the  missionaries,  and  the  workers  of  miracles  ;  at 
least  he  is  forced  to  keep  something  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, he  is  forced  to  respect  the  national  domain,  to 
guarantee  to  every  one  his  property,  his  rank,  and 
everything  he  has  acquired  under  the  new  laws. 
Without  that,  what  right  would  he  have  to  be  Em- 

Q 


1 30  WATERLOO  ' 

peror?  If  he  had  not  maintained  equality  why 
should  the  nation  wish  to  have  him?  The  others, 
on  the  contrary,  have  attacked  everything  ;  they 
want  to  destroy  everything  that  we  have  done.  Now 
you  understand  why  I  like  him  better  than  the  oth- 
ers." 

"  Ah  !  "  said  Mother  Gredel,  "  that  is  new  !  " 
and  she  laughed  contemptuously.  I  would  have 
given  anything  if  she  had  been  at  Quatre  Vents. 

"  There  was  a  time  when  you  talked  otherwise, 
when  he  re-established  the  bishops  and  the  archbish- 
ops and  the  cardinals,  when  he  had  himself  crowned 
by  the  Pope,  and  consecrated  with  oil  from  the  holy 
ampoule,*  when  he  recalled  the  emigres,  when  he 
gave  up  the  chateaux  and  forests  to  the  great  fam- 
ilies, when  he  made  princes  and  dukes  and  barons 
by  the  dozen  ;  how  many  times  have  I  heard  you 
say  that  all  that  was  atrocious,  that  he  had  betrayed 
the  Revolution,  that  you  would  have  preferred  the 
Bourbons,  because  they  did  not  know  any  other  way, 
that  they  were  like  blackbirds,  who  only  whistle  one 
tune  because  they  know  no  other,  and  because  they 
think  it  the  most  beautiful  air  in  the  world.  While 
he,  the  result  of  the  Revolution,  whose  father  had 
only  a  few  dozens  of  goats  on  the  mountains  of  Cor- 

*  Vial  which  contains  the  oil  for  anointing  the  kings 
of  France. 


WATERLOO  131 

sica,  should  have  known  that  all  men  are  equal,  that 
courage  and  genius  alone  elevate  them  above  their 
fellows, — that  he  should  have  despised  all  those  old 
notions,  and  that  he  should  have  made  war  only  to 
defend  the  new  rights,  the  new  ideas,  which  are  just 
and  which  nothing  can  arrest  :  did  you  not  say  that, 
when  you  were  talking  with  old  Colin  in  the  rear  of 
our  garden,  for  fear  of  being  arrested — did  you  not 
say  that  between  yourselves  and  before  me?  " 

Father  Goulden  had  grown  quite  pale.  He  looked 
down  at  his  feet  and  turned  his  snuff-box  round  and 
round  in  his  fingers  as  if  he  were  thinking,  and  I  saw 
his  emotion  in  his  face. 

"  Yes,  I  said  it,"  he  replied,  "  and  I  think  so 
still — you  have  a  good  memory,  Mother  Gredel.  It 
is  true  that  for  ten  years  Colin  and  I  have  been 
obliged  to  hide  ourselves  if  we  spoke  of  events  that 
will  certainly  be  accomplished,  and  it  is  the  despot- 
ism of  one  man  born  among  us,  whom  we  have  sus- 
tained with  our  own  blood,  which  compelled  us  to 
do  that.  But  to-day  everything  is  changed.  The 
man,  to  whom  you  cannot  deny  genius,  has  seen  his 
sycophants  abandon  and  betray  him  ;  he  has  seen 
that  his  strength  lies  in  the  people,  and  that  those 
alliances  of  which  he  had  the  weakness  to  be  so 
proud,  were  the  cause  of  his  ruin.  He  has  come 
now  to  rid  us  of  the  others,  and  I  am  glad." 


132 


WATERLOO 


"  Then  you  have  no  faith  in  yourself,  eh?  Have 
you  any  need  of  him? "  exclaimed  Aunt  Gredel. 
"  If  the  processions  annoyed  you,  and  if  you  were, 
as  you  say,  '  the  people,'  why  do  you  need  him?  " 

Father  Goulden  smiled,  and  said,  "  If  everybody 
had  the  courage  to  follow  his  own  conscience,  and  if 
so  many  persons  who  joined  the  processions  had  not 
done  so  from  vanity  or  to  show  their  fine  clothes, 
and  if  others  had  not  joined  from  interest,  from  the 
hope  of  getting  a  good  office,  or  to  obtain  permits, 
then  Madame  Gredel  you  would  be  right,  and  we 
should  not  have  needed  Bonaparte  to  overturn  all 
that,  and  you  would  have  seen  that  three-quarters 
of  the  people  had  common-sense,  and  perhaps  even 
the  Comte  d'Artois  himself  would  have  cried,  Hold! 
But  as  hypocrisy  and  interest  hide  and  obscure  ev- 
erything and  make  night  out  of  the  broad  day,  un- 
happily we  must  have  thunder-bolts  to  make  us  sec 
clearly.  It  is  you,  and  those  who  are  like  you,  who 
have  caused  those  who  have  never  changed  their 
opinions,  to  rejoice  when  fever  takes  the  place  of 
colic." 

Father  Goulden  rose  and  walked  up  and  down  in 
great  agitation,  and  as  Aunt  Gredel  was  going  on 
again,  he  took  his  cap  and  went  out,  saying  : 

"  I  have  given  you  my  opinions.  "Now  talk  to 
Joseph  ;  he  thinks  you  are  always  right." 


WATERLOO  13*. 

As  soon  as  he  had  gone,  Mother  Gredel  cried  out: 

"  He  is  an  old  fool,  and  he  has  been,  always  ! 
Wow,  as  for  you,  if  you  do  not  go  to  Switzerland,  I 
warn  you,  you  will  be  obliged  to  go,  God  knows 
where.  But  we  will  talk  about  that  another  time, 
the  principal  thing  is  to  warn  you.  We  will  wait 
and  see  what  happens  ;  perhaps  Bonaparte  will  be 
arrested,  but  if  he  reaches  Paris,  we  will  go  some- 
where else." 

She  embraced  us  and  took  her  basket  and  went 
away.  A  few  minutes  afterward,  Father  Goulden 
came  in  and  we  sat  down  to  our  work  and  said  no 
more  about  these  things.  We  were  very  sober,  and 
at  night  I  was  more  than  ever  surprised,  when  Cath- 
erine said  : 

"  We  will  always  listen  to  Mr.  Goulden,  he  is 
right  and  will  give  us  good  counsel." 

On  hearing  that,  I  thought  that  she  agreed  with 
Father  Goulden  because  they  read  the  gazette  to- 
gether. That  gazette  always  says  what  just  pleases 
them,  but  that  does  not  prevent  it  being  very  ter- 
rible if  we  are  obliged  to  take  our  guns  and  knap- 
sacks again,  and  it  would  be  better  to  be  in  Switzer- 
land, either  at  Geneva,  or  at  Father  Rulle's  manu- 
factory or  at  Chaux-de-Fonds,  than  at  Leipzig,  and 
those  other  places.  I  did  not  wish  to  contradict 
Catherine,  but  her  remarks  annoyed  me  greatly. 


xn 

FROM  that  moment  there  was  confusion  every- 
where, the  half-pay  officers  shouted,  "  Vive  1'Em- 
pereur."  The  commandant  gave  orders  to  arrest 
them,  but  the  battalion  did  the  same  thing,  and  the 
gendarmes  seemed  to  be  deaf.  Nobody  was  at 
work;  the  tax-gatherers  and  overseers,  the  mayor 
and  his  counsellors,  grew  gray  with  uncertainty,  not 
knowing  on  which  foot  they  should  dance.  Nobody 
dared  to  come  out  for  Bonaparte,  or  for  Louis 
XVIII.,  except  the  slaters  and  masons  and  knife- 
grinders,  who  could  not  lose  their  offices  and  who 
wished  for  nothing  better  than  to  see  others  in  their 
places.  With  their  hatchets  stuck  in  their  leather 
belts  and  a  bag  of  chips  on  their  shoulders,  they  did 
not  hesitate  to  shout,  "  Down  with  the  emigres," 
they  laughed  at  the  troubles,  which  increased  vis- 
ibly. 

One  day  the  gazette  said,  the  usurper  is  at  Gre- 
noble, the  next  he  is  at  Lyons,  the  next  at  Macon, 
and  the  next  at  Auxerre,  and  so  on.  Father  Gould- 

134 


WATERLOO  135 

en  was  in  good-humor  as  lie  read  the  news  at  night, 
and  he  would  say  : 

"  They  can  see  now  that  the  Frenchmen  are  for 
the  Revolution,  and  that  the  others  cannot  hold  out. 
Everybody  says,  t  Down  with  the  emigres.'  What 
a  lesson  for  those  who  can  see  clearly  !  Those 
Bourbons  wanted  to  make  us  all  Vendeeans,  they 
ought  to  rejoice  that  they  have  succeeded  so  well." 

But  one  thing  troubled  him  still,  that  was  the 
great  battle  which  was  announced  between  Key  and 
Napoleon. 

"  Although  ~Ney  has  kissed  the  hand  of  the  King, 
yet  he  is  an  old  soldier,  and  I  will  never  believe  that 
he  will  fight  against  the  will  of  the  people.  No,  it 
is  not  possible,  he  will  remember  the  old  cooper  of 
Saar-Louis,  who  would  break  his  head  with  his  ham- 
mer, if  he  were  still  living,  on  learning  that  Michel 
had  betrayed  the  country  in  order  to  please  the 
King." 

That  was  what  Mr.  Goulden  said,  but  that  did 
not  prevent  people  from  being  uneasy,  when  sud- 
denly the  news  arrived  that  he  had  followed  the  ex- 
ample of  the  army  and  the  bourgeoisie  and  all  those 
who  wished  to  be  rid  of  the  atonements,  and  that  he 
had  rallied  with  them.  Then  there  was  greater  con- 
fidence, but  still  prudent  men  were  silent  in  view  of 
what  might  happen. 


I3(J  WATERLOO 

On  the  21st  of  March,  between  five  and  six  in 
the  evening,  Mr.  G Gulden  and  I  were  at  work;  it  had 
begun  to  grow  dark,  and  Catherine  was  lighting  the 
lamp,  a  gentle  rain  was  falling  on  the  panes,  when 
Theodore  Roeber,  who  had  charge  of  the  telegraph, 
passed  under  our  windows,  riding  a  big  dapple-gray 
horse  at  the  top  of  his  speed,  his  blouse  filled  out  by 
the  air,  he  went  so  fast,  and  he  was  holding  his  great 
felt  hat  on  with  one  hand,  while  he  kept  striking  his 
horse  with  a  whip  which  he  held  in  the  other,  though 
he  was  galloping  like  the  wind.  Father  Goulden 
wiped  the  glass  and  leaned  over  to  see  better,  and 
said  : 

"  That  is  Roeber,  who  is  coming  from  the  tele- 
graph, some  great  news  has  arrived."  His  pale 
cheeks  reddened,  and  I  felt  my  heart  beat  violently. 
Catherine  came  and  placed  the  lamp  near  us,  and  I 
opened  the  window  to  close  the  shutter.  That  took 
me  some  moments,  as  I  was  obliged  to  disarrange  the 
glasses  on  the  work-table,  and  take  down  the  watches 
before  I  could  do  it.  Mr.  Goulden  seemed  lost  in 
thought.  Just  as  I  had  fastened  the  window,  we 
heard  the  assembly  beat  from  both  sides  of  the  city 
at  once,  from  the  bastion  of  the  Mittelbronn  and 
from  Bigelberg,  the  echoes  from  the  ramparts  and 
from  the  target  valley  responded,  and  a  dull  rum- 
bling filled  the  air.  Mr.  Goulden  rose,  saying: 


WATERLOO  137 

"  The  matter  is  decided  at  last,"  in  a  tone  which 
made  me  shudder.  "  Either  they  are  fighting  near 
Paris,  or  the  Emperor  is  in  his  old  palace  as  he  was 
in  1809." 

Catherine  ran  for  his  cloak,  for  she  saw  plainly 
he  was  going  out  in  spite  of  the  rain.  He  was  speak- 
ing with  his  great  gray  eyes  wide  open,  and  took  no 
notice  as  she  slipped  on  the  sleeves,  and  as  he  went 
out  Catherine  touched  me  on  the  shoulder — I  was 
still  sitting — and  said: 

"  Go,  Joseph,  follow  him." 

We  reached  the  square  just  as  the  battalion  filed 
out  of  the  broad  street  at  the  corner  by  the  mayor's, 
behind  the  drummers,  who  had  their  drums  over 
their  shoulders.  A  great  crowd  followed  them. 
When  they  reached  the  great  lindens,  the  drums 
recommenced,  and  the  soldiers  hurriedly  got  into 
their  ranks,  and  almost  immediately  the  Command- 
ant Gemeau,  who  was  suffering  from  his  wounds  and 
had  not  been  out  for  two  months  appeared  on  the 
steps  of  the  "  Minque."  A  sapper  held  his  horse 
by  the  bridle,  and  gave  him  his  shoulder  to  mount. 
Everybody  was  looking  on,  and  the  roll  commenced. 

The  commandant  crossed  the  square,  and  the  cap- 
tains went  quickly  up  to  meet  him;  he  said  a  few 
words  to  them,  and  then  passed  in  front  of  the  bat- 
talion, followed  by  a  sergeant  with  three  chevrons, 


138  WATERLOO 

who  carried  a  flag  in  its  oil-cloth  case.  The  crowd 
increased  every  moment.  Mr.  Goulden  had  mount- 
ed on  the  stone  posts  in  front  of  the  arch  of  the 
guard-house.  After  the  roll  was  called,  the  com- 
mandant waited  a  moment  and  then  drew  his  sword 
and  gave  the  order  to  form  a  square.  I  tell  you 
these  things  in  a  simple  way,  because  they  were  sim- 
ple and  terrible. 

The  commandant  was  very  pale,  and  we  could 
see,  though  it  was  almost  night,  that  he  had  fever. 
The  gray  lines  of  soldiers  in  the  square,  the  com- 
mandant on  horseback,  the  officers  around  him  in 
the  rain,  the  listening  citizens,  the  profound  silence, 
the  opening  of  the  windows  in  the  vicinity,  all  are 
present  to  my  mind  though  fifty  years  have  passed 
since  then.  Not  a  word  was  said,  for  we  all  felt  that 
we  were  going  to  learn  the  fate  of  France. 

"  Carry  arms !  shoulder  arms !  " 

After  this  nothing  was  heard  but  the  voice  of  the 
commandant,  that  voice  which  I  had  heard  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Rhine  at  Lutzen  and  Leipzig,  say- 
ing: 

"  Close  the  ranks." 

The  words  went  through  my  very  marrow. 

"  Soldiers!  "  said  he,  "  Louis  XVIII.  left  Paris 
on  the  20th  of  March,  and  the  Emperor  Napoleon 
made  his  entry  into  the  capital  the  same  day." 


WATERLOO  139 

A  sort  of  shiver  went  through  the  crowd,  but  it 
lasted  for  a  moment  only,  and  the  commandant  con- 
tinued : 

"  Soldiers,  the  flag  of  France  is  the  flag  of  Arcola, 
of  Rivoli,  of  Alexandria,  of  Chebreisse,  of  the  Pyra- 
mids, of  Aboukir,  of  Marengo,  of  Austerlitz,  and  of 
Jena,  of  Eylau,  of  Friedland,  of  Sommo-Sierra,  ol 
Madrid,  of  Abensberg,  of  Eckmiil,  of  Essling,  of 
"Wagram,  of  Smolensk,  of  Moscowa,  of  Weissenf els^ 
of  Lutzen,  of  Bautzen,  of  Wurtschen,  of  Dresden,  of 
Bischofswarda,  of  Hanau,  of  Brienne,  of  Saint  Diz- 
ier,  of  Champaubert,  of  Chateau-Thierry,  of  Join- 
villiers,  of  Mery-sur-Seine,  of  Montereau,  and  of 
Montmirail.  It  is  the  flag  which  we  have  dyed 
with  our  blood,  and  it  is  that  which  makes  it  our 
glory." 

The  old  sergeant  had  drawn  the  torn  flag  from 
its  case,  and  the  commandant  continued: 

"  Here  is  the  flag!  you  recognize  it;  it  is  the  flag 
of  the  nation,  it  is  that  flag  which  the  Russians  and 
Austrians  and  Prussians  took  from  us  on  the  day  of 
their  first  victory,  because  they  feared  it." 

A  great  number  of  the  old  soldiers,  on  hearing 
these  words,  turned  away  their  heads  to  hide  their 
tears;  while  others,  deathly  pale,  looked  and  lis- 
tened with  flashing  eyes. 

"I,"    said  the  commandant,  raising  his  sword, 


140 


WATERLOO 


"know  no  other.  Vive  la  France!  Vive  I'Em- 
pereur!  " 

The  words  had  hardly  left  his  mouth  when  from 
every  window,  from  the  square,  from  the  streets, 
rose  the  shouts,  "  Vive  la  France!  Vive  VEm- 
pereur!"  like  the  blast  of  a  trumpet.  The  people 
and  the  soldiers  embraced  each  other,  you  would 
have  thought  that  everything  was  safe,  that  we  had 
found  all  that  France  lost  in  1814.  It  was  almost 
dark,  and  the  people  went  away  in  companies  of 
threes,  sixes,  and  twenties,  shouting,  "  Vive  VEm- 
pereur  !  "  "When  near  the  hospital  a  red  flash  light- 
ed up  the  sky,  the  cannon  thundered,  another  re- 
sponded from  the  rear  of  the  arsenal,  and  so  they 
continued  to  roar  from  second  to  second. 

Mr.  Goulden  and  I  left  the  square  arm  in  arm,  cry- 
ing, "  Vive  VEmpcreur!  "  also,  and  as  at  each  dis- 
charge of  cannon  the  flash  lighted  up  the  square,  in 
one  of  them  we  saw  Catherine,  who  was  coming  to 
meet  us  with  old  Madelon  Schouler.  She  had  put 
on  her  little  cloak  and  hood,  protecting  her  rosy  lit- 
tle nose  from  the  mist,  and  she  exclaimed,  on  seeing 
us: 

"  There  they  are,  Madelon !  The  Emperor  is  mas- 
ter, is  he  not,  Mr.  Goulden?  " 

"  Yes,  my  child,"  he  replied,  "  it  is  decided." 

Catherine  took  my  arm,  and  I  kissed  her  two  or 


WATERLOO  141 

three  times  as  we  were  going  home.  Perhaps  I  felt 
that  we  should  soon  be  forced  to  part,  and  that  then 
it  would  be  long  before  I  should  kiss  her  again. 
Father  Goulden  and  Madelon  were  before  us,  and 
he  said : 

"  Come  up,  Madelon;  I  want  to  drink  a  good  glass 
of  wine  with  you."  But  she  declined,  and  left  us 
at  the  door.  I  can  only  say  that  the  joy  of  the  peo- 
ple was  as  great  as  on  the  returr  of  Louis  XVIII., 
and  perhaps  still  greater. 

Father  Goulden  took  off  his  cloak  and  sat  down 
in  his  place  at  table,  as  supper  was  waiting.  Cath- 
erine ran  down  to  the  cellar  and  brought  up  a  bottle 
of  good  wine,  we  laughed  and  drank  while  the  can- 
non made  our  windows  rattle.  Sometimes  people's 
heads  are  turned,  even  those  who  love  nothing  but 
peace.  So  the  sound  of  the  cannon  made  us  happy, 
and  we  went  back  in  a  measure  to  our  old  habits. 

"  The  commandant,"  said  Mr.  Goulden,  "  spoke 
well,  but  he  might  have  kept  on  till  to-morrow  with 
his  victories,  commencing  with  Valmy,  Hundschott, 
Wattignies,  Fleurus,  ISTeuwied,  Ukerath,  Froesch- 
willer,  Geisberg,  to  Zurich  and  Hohenlinden.  These 
were  also  great  victories,  and  even  the  most  splendid 
of  all,  for  they  preserved  liberty.  He  only  spoke 
of  the  last  ones,  that  was  enough  for  the  moment, 
Let  those  people  come !  let  them  dare  to  move !  The 


142 


WATERLOO 


nation  wants  peace,  but  if  the  allies  commence  war 
woe  be  unto  them.  Now  we  shall  again  talk  of  lib- 
erty, equality,  and  fraternity.  All  France  will  be 
roused  by  it,  I  warn  you  beforehand.  There  will  be 
a  national  guard,  and  the  old  men  like  me  and  the 
married  men  will  defend  the  towns,  while  the  young- 
er ones  will  march,  but  no  one  will  cross  the  fron- 
tiers. The  Emperor,  taught  by  experience,  will  arm 
the  artisans,  the  peasants,  and  the  bourgeoisie,  and 
when  we  are  attacked,  even  if  they  are  a  million, 
not  one  shall  escape.  The  day  for  soldiers  is  past, 
regular  armies  are  for  conquest,  but  a  people  who 
can  defend  themselves  do  not  fear  the  best  armies 
in  the  world.  We  proved  that  to  the  Prussians  and 
Austrians,  to  the  English  and  the  Russians  from 
1792  to  1800,  and  since  then  the  Spaniards  have 
shown  us  the  same  thing,  and  even  before  that,  the 
Americans  demonstrated  it  to  the  English.  The 
Emperor  will  speak  to  us  of  liberty,  be  sure  of  that; 
and  if  he  will  send  his  proclamations  into  Germany, 
many  Germans  will  be  with  us;  they  were  promised 
liberty  in  order  to  make  them  rise  against  Erance, 
and  now  the  sovereigns  in  conference  at  Vienna 
mock  at  their  own  promises.  Their  plan  is  fixed. 
They  divide  the  people  among  themselves  as  they 
would  a  flock  of  sheep.  Those  who  have  good  sense 
will  unite,  and  in  that  way  peace  will  be  established 


WATERLOO  143 

by  force.  The  kings  alone  have  any  interest  in  war, 
the  people  do  not  need  to  conquer  themselves,  pro- 
vided that  they  arrange  for  the  freedom  of  com- 
merce, that  is  the  principal  thing." 

In  his  excitement  everything  looked  bright  to 
him.  And  all  that  he  said  seemed  to  me  so  natural, 
that  I  was  sure  that  the  Emperor  would  direct  mat- 
ters as  we  had  supposed.  Catherine  believed  it  too. 
We  thanked  God  for  what  had  come,  and  about 
eleven  o'clock,  after  having  laughed  and  drank  and 
shouted,  we  went  to  bed  with  the  brightest  hopes. 
All  the  city  was  illuminated,  and  we  had  put  lamps 
in  our  windows  also.  Every  moment  we  heard  the 
crackers  in  the  street  and  the  children  were  shout- 
ing, "  Vive  1'Empereur !  "  and  the  soldiers  were 
coming  out  of  the  inns,  singing,  "  Down  with  the 
emigres."  This  lasted  till  very  late,  and  it  was  one 
o'clock  before  we  slept. 


xm 

THIS  general  satisfaction  continued  for  five  or  six 
days.  The  old  majors  and  their  assistants  were  re- 
placed as  well  as  the  field-guards,  and  all  those  who 
had  been  displaced  a  few  months  before.  The 
whole  city,  even  the  women,  wore  little  tri-colored 
cockades,  and  all  the  seamstresses  were  busily  at 
work  making  them,  of  red.  white,  and  blue  ribbon ; 
and  those  who  railed  so  bitterly  against  the  "  ogre 
of  Corsica,"  never  spoke  of  Louis  XVIII.  except  as 
the  "  Panada  King."  On  the  25th  of  March  a  Te 
Deum  was  sung,  the  garrison  and  all  the  civil  au- 
thorities joining  in  the  service  with  great  ceremony. 

After  the  Te  Deum,  the  authorities  gave  a  grand 
dinner  to  the  officers  of  the  garrison  at  the  "  Ville 
de  Metz."  The  weather  was  fine  and  the  windows 
were  open,  and  the  hall  was  lighted  by  clusters  of 
lamps  hanging  from  the  ceiling.  Catherine  and  I 
went  out  in  the  evening  to  enjoy  the  spectacle.  "We 
could  see  the  uniforms  and  the  black  coats  sitting 
side  by  side  around  the  long  tables,  and  first  the 

mayor  would  rise,  and  then  his  assistants,  or  the  new 

144 


WATERLOO  145 

commandant  of  the  post,  Mr.  Brancion,  to  drink  to 
the  health  of  the  Emperor  or  of  his  ministers,  of 
France,  to  peace  or  to  victory,  etc.,  etc.,  and  this 
they  kept  up  till  midnight. 

Inside  the  glasses  jingled,  and  outside  the  chil- 
dren fired  crackers.  They  had  erected  u  climbing 
pole  before  the  church,  and  wooden  horses  and  or- 
gan-grinders had  come  from  Saverne,  and  there  was 
a  holiday  at  the  college.  In  Klein's  Court,  at  the 
"  Ox,"  there  was  a  fight  between  dogs  and  donkeys; 
in  short,  it  was  just  as  it  was  in  1830  and  in  1848, 
and  afterward.  The  people  never  invent  anything 
new  to  glorify  those  who  rise,  or  to  express  their 
contempt  for  those  who  fall. 

But  they  soon  found  out  that  the  Emperor  had  no 
time  to  lose  in  rejoicings.  The  gazette  said  that 
"  his  Majesty  wished  for  peace,  that  he  made  no  de- 
mands, that  he  was  on  good  terms  with  his  father- 
in-law  the  Emperor  Francis,  that  Marie  Louise  and 
the  King  of  Rome  were  to  return,  they  were  daily 
expected,"  etc. 

But  meanwhile  the  order  arrived  to  arm  the  place. 
Two  years  before  Pf alzbourg  was  a  hundred  leagues 
from  the  frontier.  The  ramparts  were  in  ruins,  the 
ditches  filled  up,  and  there  was  nothing  in  the  ar- 
senal but  miserable  old  muskets  of  the  time  of  Louis 
XIV.,  which  were  discharged  with  matches  ;  and 
10 


146  WATERLOO 

the  guns  were  so  unwieldy  on  their  heavy  carriages, 
that  horses  were  required  to  move  them.  The  ar- 
senals were  really  at  Dresden  and  Hamburg  and 
Erfurt;  but  though  we  had  not  stirred,  we  were  ten 
leagues  from  Rhenish  Bavaria,  and  it  was  upon  us 
that  the  first  shower  of  bombs  and  bullets  would  fall. 
So,  day  after  day,  we  received  orders  to  restore  the 
earthworks  and  to  clear  out  the  ditches  and  to  put 
the  old  ordnance  in  good  condition.  At  the  begin- 
ning of  April  a  great  workshop  was  established  at 
the  arsenal  for  repairing  the  arms,  and  skilful  en- 
gineers and  artillerists  arrived  from  Metz  to  repair 
the  earthworks  of  the  bastions  and  make  terraces 
around  the  embrasures.  The  activity  was  very 
great — greater  than  in  1805  and  in  1813,  and  I 
thought  more  than  once  that  these  extensive  fron- 
tiers had  their  good  side,  because  we  might  in  the  in- 
terior live  in  peace,  while  they  took  the  blows  and 
bombardments. 

But  we  had  great  anxiety,  for  naturally  when  the 
palisades  were  newly  planted  on  the  glacis,  and  the 
half -moons  filled  with  fascines,  when  cannon  were 
placed  in  every  nook  and  corner,  we  knew  that  there 
must  be  soldiers  to  guard  and  serve  them. 

Often  as  we  heard  these  decrees  read  at  night, 
Catherine  and  I  looked  at  each  other  in  mute  appre- 
hension. I  felt  beforehand  that  instead  of  remain- 


WATERLOO  147 

ing  quietly  at  home,  cleaning  and  mending  clocks,  I 
would  be  obliged  to  be  again  on  the  march,  and  that 
always  made  me  sad;  and  this  melancholy  increased 
from  day  to  day.  Sometimes  Father  Goulden,  see- 
ing this,  would  say  cheerfully: 

"  Come !  Joseph,  courage !  all  will  come  right  at 
last." 

He  wished  to  raise  my  spirits,  but  I  thought  : 
"  Yes,  he  says  that  to  encourage  me,  but  any  one 
who  is  not  blind  can  see  what  turn  affairs  will  take." 

Events  followed  each  other  so  rapidly,  that  the 
decrees  came  like  hail,  always  with  sounding  phrases 
and  grand  words  to  embellish  them. 

And  we  learned  too  that  the  regiments  were  to 
take  their  old  numbers,  "  illustrious  in  so  many 
glorious  campaigns."  Without  being  very  mali- 
cious, we  could  understand  that  the  old  numbers 
which  had  no  regiments  would  soon  find  them  again. 
And  not  only  that,  but  we  learned  that  the  skele- 
tons of  the  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  battalions  of  in- 
fantry, the  fourth  and  fifth  squadrons  of  cavalry, 
and  thirty  battalions  of  artillery  trains  were  to  be 
filled  up,  and  twenty  regiments  of  the  Young 
Guard,  ten  battalions  of  military  equipages,  and 
twenty  regiments  of  marines  were  to  be  formed,  os- 
tensibly to  give  employment  to  all  the  half -pay  offi- 
cers of  both  arms  of  the  service,  land  and  naval. 


I48  WATERLOO 

That  was  very  well  to  say;  but  when  they  are  cre- 
ated they  are  to  be  filled  up,  and  when  they  are  full 
the  soldiers  must  go.  When  I  saw  that,  my  con- 
fidence vanished,  but  yet  everybody  cried,  "  Peace, 
peace,  peace !  We  accept  the  treaty  of  Paris.  The 
kings  and  emperors  convened  at  Vienna  are  our 
friends.  Marie  Louise  and  the  King  of  Rome  are 
coming." 

The  more  I  heard  of  these  things,  the  more  my 
distrust  increased.  In  vain  Mr.  Goulden  would 
say,  "  He  has  taken  Carnot  into  his  counsels.  Car- 
not  is  a  good  patriot;  Carnot  will  prevent  him  from 
going  to  war,  or  if  we  are  forced  to  go  to  war,  he 
will  show  him  that  the  enemy  must  come  here  to  find 
us,  the  nation  must  be  roused,  declare  the  country  in 
danger,  etc." 

In  vain  did  he  tell  me  these  things,  I  always  said 
to  myself,  "  all  these  new  regiments  are  to  be  filled; 
that  is  certain."  We  heard  also  that  ten  thousand 
picked  men  were  to  be  added  to  the  Old  Guard,  and 
that  the  light  artillery  was  to  be  reorganized.  Ev- 
erybody knows  that  light  artillery  follows  the  army. 
To  remain  behind  the  ramparts  or  for  defence  at 
home,  it  is  useless. 

I  came  to  this  conclusion  at  once,  and  though  I 
was  generally  careful  to  conceal  my  anxiety  from 
Catherine,  yet  this  night  I  could  not  help  telling 


WATERLOO  149 

her  so.  She  said  nothing,  which  shows  plainly  that 
she  had  good  sense  and  that  she  thought  so  too. 

All  these  things  diminished  my  enthusiasm  for 
the  Emperor  very  much  indeed,  and  I  sometimes 
said  to  myself  as  I  was  at  work,  "  I  would  rather  see 
processions  going  past  my  windows,  than  to  go  and 
fight  against  people  whom  I  never  saw."  At  least 
the  sight  would  cost  me  neither  leg  nor  arm,  and  if 
it  annoyed  me  too  much  I  could  make  an  excursion 
to  Quatre  Vents.  My  vexation  increased  the  more, 
as  since  the  dispute  with  Mr.  Goulden,  Aunt  Gredel 
did  not  come  to  see  us.  She  was  a  very  wilful 
woman  and  would  not  listen  to  reason,  and  would 
hold  resentment  against  a  person  for  years  and  years. 
But  she  was  our  mother,  and  it  was  our  duty  to  yield 
something  to  her  as  she  wished  us  only  good.  But 
how  could  we  be  reconciled  to  her  ideas  and  those  of 
Mr.  Goulden? 

This  was  what  embarrassed  us,  for  if  we  were 
bound  to  love  Aunt  Gredel,  we  owed  also  the  most 
profound  respect  to  him,  who  looked  upon  us  as  his 
own  children,  and  who  loaded  us  every  day  with  his 
benefits. 

These  thoughts  made  us  sad,  and  I  had  resolved  to 
tell  Mr.  Goulden,  that  Catherine  and  I  were  Jac- 
obins like  himself,  but  without  doing  injustice  to 
Jacobin  ideas,  or  abandoning  them,  we  ought  to 


i5o  WATERLOO 

honor  our  mother,  and  go  and  inquire  after  her 
health. 

I  did  not  know  how  he  would  receive  this  declara- 
tion, when  one  Sunday  morning,  as  we  went  down 
about  eight  o'clock,  we  found  him  dressed,  and  in 
excellent  humor.  He  said  to  us,  "  Children,  here 
it  is  more  than  a  month  since  Aunt  Gredel  has  been 
to  see  us.  She  is  obstinate.  I  wish  to  show  her 
that  I  can  yield.  Between  friends  like  us,  there 
should  not  be  even  a  shadow  of  difference.  After 
breakfast  we  will  go  to  Quatre  Vents,  and  tell  her 
that  she  is  prejudiced,  and  that  we  love  her  in  spite 
of  her  faults.  You  will  see  how  ashamed  she  will 
be."  He  laughed,  but  we  were  quite  touched  by  his 
generosity. 

"  Ah!  Mr.  Goulden,  how  good  and  kind  you  are," 
said  Catherine,  "  they  who  do  not  love  you,  must 
have  very  bad  hearts." 

"  Ha !  "  he  exclaimed,  "  is  not  what  I  have  done 
quite  natural?  must  we  let  a  few  words  separate  us? 
Thank  God!  age  teaches  us  to  be  more  reasonable 
and  to  be  willing  to  take  the  first  step, — that  you 
know  is  one  of  the  principles  of  the  Rights  of  Man, 
— in  order  to  maintain  concord  between  reasonable 
persons." 

Everything  was  summed  up,  when  he  had  quoted 
the  "  Rights  of  Man."  You  can  hardly  imagine 


WATERLOO  151 

our  satisfaction.  Catherine  could  hardly  wait  till 
breakfast  was  over,  she  was  here  and  there  and  ev- 
erywhere, to  bring  his  hat  and  cane  and  his  shoes 
and  the  box  which  held  his  beautiful  peruke.  She 
helped  him  on  with  his  brown  coat,  while  he  laughed 
as  he  watched  her,  and  at  last  he  kissed  her  saying, 
"  I  knew  this  would  make  you  happy,  so  do  not  let 
us  lose  a  minute,  let  us  go." 

We  all  set  off  together,  Father  Goulden  gravely 
giving  his  arm  to  Catherine,  as  he  always  did  in  the 
street,  and  I  marched  on  behind  as  happy  as  possible. 
Those  I  loved  best  in  the  world  were  here  before  my 
eyes,  and  as  I  went  on  I  thought  of  what  I  should 
say  to  Aunt  Gredel. 

The  weather  was  splendid,  and  on  we  went  be- 
yond the  wall  and  the  glacis,  and  in  twenty  minutes, 
without  hurrying,  we  stood  before  Aunt  Gredel'a 
door.  It  might  have  been  ten  o'clock,  and  as  I  had 
gained  a  little  on  them  at  the  "  Roulette  "  I  went 
in  by  the  alley  of  elders  that  ran  along  the  side  of  the 
house,  and  looked  into  the  little  window  to  see  what 
aunt  was  doing.  She  was  seated  right  opposite  me 
near  the  fireplace,  in  which  a  little  fire  was  smoulder- 
ing, she  had  on  her  short  skirt,  striped  with  blue, 
with  great  pockets  on  the  outside,  and  her  linen 
corsage  with  shoulder-straps,  and  her  old  shoes.  She 
was  spinning  away,  with  her  eyes  cast  down,  looking 
very  sober,  her  great  thin  arms  naked  to  the  elbow, 


152 


WATERLOO 


and  her  gray  liair  twisted  up  in  her  neck  without  any 
cap.  "  Poor  Aunt  Gredel,"  thought  I,  "  she  is 
thinking  of  us  no  doubt — and  she  is  so  obstinate  in 
her  vexation.  It  is  sad  though,  all  the  same,  to  live 
alone  and  never  see  her  children."  It  made  me  sad 
to  see  her. 

At  that  moment  the  door  opened  on  the  side  next 
the  street,  and  Father  Goulden  walked  in  with  Cath- 
erine, as  happy  as  possible,  exclaiming: 

"  Ha !  Mother  Gredel,  you  do  not  come  to  see  us 
any  more,  therefore  I  have  brought  your  children  to 
see  you,  and  have  come  myself  to  embrace  you. 
You  will  have  to  get  us  a  good  dinner,  do  you  hear? 
and  that  will  teach  you  a  lesson."  He  seemed  a  lit- 
tle grave  with  all  his  joy. 

On  seeing  them,  aunt  sprang  up  and  embraced 
Catherine,  and  then  she  fell  into  Mr.  Goulden's  arms 
and  hung  on  his  neck : 

"  Ah !  Mr.  Goulden,  how  happy  I  am  to  see  you. 
You  are  a  good  man;  you  are  worth  a  thousand  of 
me." 

Seeing  that  matters  had  taken  a  pleasant  turn,  I 
ran  round  to  the  door  and  found  them  both  with 
their  eyes  full  of  tears.  Father  Goulden  said: 

"  We  will  talk  no  more  politics!  " 

"No!  but  whether  one  is  Jacobin  or  anything 
else  you  will,  the  principal  thing  is  to  keep  in  good 
temper." 


WATERLOO  153 

She  then  came  and  embraced  me,  and  said: 

"  My  poor  Joseph !  I  have  been  thinking  of  you 
from  morning  till  night.  But  all  is  well  now  and  I 
am  satisfied." 

She  ran  into  the  kitchen  and  commenced  bustling 
among  the  kettles  to  prepare  something  to  regale  us 
with,  while  Mr.  Goulden  placed  his  cane  in  a  corner 
and  hung  his  great  hat  upon  it,  and  sat  down  with 
an  air  of  contentment  near  the  hearth. 

"What  fine  weather!"  he  exclaimed,  "how 
green  and  flourishing  everything  is!  How  happy 
I  should  be  to  live  in  the  fields,  to  see  the  hedges  and 
apple-trees  and  plum-trees  from  my  windows,  cov- 
ered with  their  red  and  white  blossoms !  " 

He  was  gay  as  a  lark,  and  we  all  should  have  been 
except  for  the  thoughts  of  the  war  which  were  con- 
stantly coming  into  our  heads. 

"  Leave  all  that,  mother,"  said  Catherine,  "  I 
will  get  the  dinner  to-day  as  I  used  to  do;  go  and  sit 
down  quietly  with  Mr.  Goulden." 

"  But  you  do  not  know  where  anything  is,  I  havo 
disarranged  everything,"  said  aunt. 

"  Sit  down,  I  beg  you,"  said  Catherine,  "  I  shall 
find  the  butter  and  the  eggs  and  the  flour  and  every- 
thing that  is  necessary." 

"  "Well,  well !  I  am  going  to  obey  you,"  said  she, 
as  she  went  down  to  the  cellar. 

Catherine  took  off  her  pretty  shawl  and  hung  it 


154 


WATERLOO 


on  the  back  of  my  chair,  then  she  put  some  wood  on 
the  fire  and  some  butter  in  a  saucepan  and  looked 
into  the  kettles  to  see  that  everything  was  in  order. 
Aunt  came  in  at  that  moment  with  a  bottle  of  white 
wine. 

"  You  will  first  refresh  yourselves  a  little  before 
dinner,  and  while  Catherine  looks  after  the  kitchen 
I  will  go  and  put  on  my  sacque  and  give  my  hair  a 
touch  with  the  comb,  for  certainly  it  needs  it,  and 
you — go  into  the  orchard ; — here,  Joseph,  take  these 
glasses  and  the  bottle  and  go  and  sit  in  the  bee-house, 
the  weather  is  fine,  in  an  hour  all  will  be  in  order  and 
I  will  come  and  drink  with  you." 

Father  Goulden  and  I  went  out  through  the  tall 
grass  and  the  yellow  dandelions  which  came  up  to 
our  knees.  It  was  very  warm  and  the  air  was  full 
of  soft  murmurs.  We  sat  down  in  the  shade  and 
looked  at  the  glorious  sunshine. 

Mr.  Goulden  took  off  his  peruke  in  order  to  be 
more  at  his  ease  and  hung  it  up  behind  him,  and  I 
opened  the  bottle  and  we  drank  some  of  the  good 
white  wine. 

"  Well !  all  goes  on  even  though  man  does  com- 
mit follies;  the  Lord  God  watches  over  all  his  works. 
Look  at  the  grain,  Joseph,  how  it  grows !  What  a 
harvest  there  will  be  in  three  or  four  months.  And 
those  turnips  and  cabbages,  and  the  shrubs,  and  the 
bees,  how  busy  everything  is,  how  they  live  and 


WATERLOO  155 

grow!  what  a  pity  it  is  that  men  do  not  follow  so 
good  an  example !  what  a  pity  that  some  must  labor 
to  support  the  others  in  idleness.  "What  a  pity  that 
there  must  be  always  idlers  of  every  kind,  who  treat 
us  like  Jacobins  because  we  wish  for  order  and 
peace  and  justice !  " 

There  was  nothing  he  liked  so  much  to  see  as  in- 
dustry, not  only  that  of  man  but  even  of  the  smallest 
insect  that  runs  about  in  the  grass,  as  in  an  endless 
forest,  which  builds  and  pairs  and  covers  its  eggs, 
heaps  them  up  in  its  places  of  deposit,  exposes  them 
to  the  sunshine,  protects  them  from  the  chills  of 
night,  and  defends  them  from  its  enemies;  in  short, 
all  that  great  universe  of  life  where  everything 
sings,  everything  is  in  its  place;  from  the  lark  which 
fills  the  air  with  his  joyous  music  to  the  ant  which 
goes  and  comes  and  runs  and  mows  and  saws  and 
pulls  and  is  master  of  all  trades. 

This  was  what  pleased  Mr.  Goulden,  but  he  never 
spoke  of  it  except  in  the  fields,  when  this  grand  spec- 
tacle was  right  under  his  eyes,  and  naturally  he  then 
spoke  of  God,  whom  he  called  the  "  Supreme  Be- 
ing," as  in  the  time  of  the  Republic,  and  he  said, 
He  was  reason  and  wisdom  and  goodness  and  love ; 
justice,  order,  and  life.  The  ideas  of  the  almanac- 
makers  came  back  to  him  also,  and  it  was  splendid  to 
hear  him  talk  of  the  "  Pluviose  "  the  season  of 
rains,  of  "  Mvose  "  the  season  of  snows,  of  "  Ven- 


156  WATERLOO 

tose  "  season  of  winds,  and  "  Floreal,  Prairial,  and 
Fructidor."  He  said  the  ideas  of  men  in  those 
times  were  more  closely  allied  to  God's,  while  July, 
September,  and  October  meant  nothing,  and  were 
only  invented  to  confuse  and  obscure  everything. 
Once  on  this  subject  it  was  plain  that  he  could  not 
exhaust  it.  Unfortunately  I  have  not  the  learning 
that  that  good  man  had,  otherwise  it  would  give  me 
real  pleasure  to  recount  his  sayings  to  you.  We 
were  just  here  when  Mother  Gredel,  well  washed 
and  combed  and  in  her  Sunday  dress,  came  round 
the  corner  of  the  house  toward  us.  He  stopped  in- 
stantly that  she  might  not  be  disturbed. 

"  Here  I  am,"  she  said,  "  all  in  order." 

"  Sit  down,"  said  Father  Goulden,  making  a  place 
for  her  beside  him  on  the  bench. 

"  Do  you  know  what  time  it  is? "  said  she. 
"  Does  it  not  seem  long  to  you  ?  Listen !  "  and  we 
heard  the  city  clock  slowly  strike  twelve. 

"  What !  is  it  noon  already !  I  would  not  have  be- 
lieved that  we  had  been  here  more  than  ten  min- 
utes." 

"  Yes,  it  is  noon,  and  dinner  is  waiting." 

"  So  much  the  better,"  said  Mr.  Goulden,  offer- 
ing his  arm  to  her,  "  since  you  have  told  me  the 
hour  I  find  I  have  a  good  appetite." 

They  went  along  the  alley  arm  in  arm,  and  when 
we  were  at  the  door  a  most  charming  sight  met  our 


WATERLOO  157 

eyes,  the  great  tureen  with  its  red  flowers  was  smok- 
ing on  the  table,  a  breast  of  stuffed  veal  filled  the 
room  with  a  delicious  odor.  A  great  plate  of  cinna- 
mon cakes  stood  on  the  edge  of  the  old  oak  buffet, 
two  bottles  of  wine,  and  glasses  clear  as  crystal, 
shone  on  the  white  cloth  beside  the  plates.  The 
very  sight  of  it  made  you  feel  that  it  is  the  joy  of  the 
Lord  to  shower  blessings  on  His  children. 

Catherine,  with  her  rosy  cheeks  and  white  teeth, 
laughed  to  see  our  satisfaction,  and  during  the  whole 
dinner  our  anxiety  for  the  future  was  forgotten. 
We  laughed  and  were  as  happy  as  if  the  world  were 
in  the  best  condition  possible.  But  as  we  were  tak- 
ing coffee  our  sadness  returned,  and  without  know- 
ing why,  \ve  were  all  very  grave.  Nobody  wished 
to  speak  of  politics,  when  suddenly  Aunt  Gredel 
herself  asked  if  there  was  anything  new.  Mr. 
Goulden  then  said  that  the  Emperor  desired  peace, 
and  that  he  wished  to  put  himself  in  a  condition  of 
defence,  in  order  to  warn  our  enemies  that  we  were 
not  afraid.  He  said  that  in  any  case,  in  spite  of  the 
ill-feeling  of  the  allies  they  would  not  dare  to  attack 
us,  that  the  Emperor  Erancis,  though  he  had  not 
much  heart,  would  not  wish  to  overthrow  his  son-in- 
law  and  his  own  daughter  and  grandson  a  second 
time,  that  it  would  be  contrary  to  nature,  and  besides 
that,  the  nation  would  rise  en  masse,  that  they 
would  declare  the  country  to  be  in  danger,  and  thai 


158  WATERLOO 

it  would  not  be  a  war  of  soldiers  alone,  but  of  all 
Frenchmen  against  those  who  wished  to  oppress 
them,  that  this  would  make  the  allied  sovereigns  re- 
flect, etc.,  etc. 

He  said  many  other  things  which  I  do  not  recall. 
Aunt  Gredel  listened  without  saying  a  word.  She 
rose  at  last,  and  went  to  a  closet  and  took  a  piece  of 
paper  from  a  porringer,  and,  giving  it  to  Mr.  Gould- 
en,  said,  "Read  this;  such  papers  are  all  around 
the  country;  this  came  to  me  from  the  Vicar  Die- 
mer.  You  will  see  whether  peace  is  so  certain." 

As  Mr.  Goulden  had  left  his  spectacles  at  home,  I 
read  the  paper.  I  put  all  those  old  papers  aside 
years  and  years  ago,  they  have  grown  yellow  and  no 
one  thinks  of  them  or  speaks  of  them,  and  still  it 
is  well  to  read  them.  How  do  we  know  what  will 
happen?  Those  old  kings  and  emperors  died  after 
doing  us  all  the  harm  possible,  but  their  sons  and 
grandsons  still  live,  and  do  not  wish  us  overmuch 
good,  and  that  which  they  said  then  they  may  say 
•  again  now,  and  those  who  lent  their  aid  to  the 
fathers  might  incline  to  help  their  sons.  Here  is 
the  paper. 

"  The  Allied  Powers  which  signed  the  treaty  of  Paris, 
assembled  in  Congress  at  Vienna,  having  been  informed 
of  the  escape  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  and  of  his  en- 
trance into  France  with  arms  in  his  hands,  owe  it  to 
their  dignity  and  to  the  interest  of  social  order  to  make 
ft  solemn  declaration  of  the  sentiments  which  this  event 


WATERLOO 


'59 


has  excited.  In  violating-  the  terms  of  the  convention 
which  placed  him  at  Elba,  Bonaparte  destroyed  his  only 
legal  title  to  life;  and  in  reappearing  in  France  with 
projects  for  disturbing  the  public  peace,  he  has  deprived 
himself  of  the  protection  of  the  laws,  and  made  it  mani- 
fest to  the  universe  that  there  can  be  neither  truce  nor 
peace  with  him." 

And  so  they  continued  through  two  long  pages, 
and  those  people  who  had  nothing  in  common  with 
us,  who  had  no  concern  with  our  affairs,  and  who 
gave  themselves  the  title  of  Defenders  of  the  Peace, 
finished  by  declaring  that  they  united  themselves  to 
maintain  the  treaty  of  Paris  and  replace  Louis 
XVIII.  on  the  throne. 

When  I  had  finished,  aunt  turned  to  Mr.  Goulden 
and  asked: 

"  What  do  you  think  of  all  that?  " 

"  I  think,"  said  he,  "  that  those  sovereigns  de- 
spise the  people,  and  that  they  would  exterminate 
the  human  race  without  shame  or  pity  in  order  to 
maintain  fifteen  or  twenty  families  in  luxury.  They 
look  upon  themselves  as  gods,  and  upon  us  as 
brutes." 

"  Doubtless,"  replied  Aunt  Gredel.  "  I  do  not 
deny  it,  but  all  that  will  not  prevent  Joseph  from 
being  compelled  to  go  away." 

I  turned  quite  pale,  for  I  saw  that  she  was  right. 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  Goulden,  "  I  knew  that  some 
days  ago,  and  this  is  what  I  have  done.  You  have 


160  WATERLOO 

heard,  no  doubt,  Mother  Gredel,  that  great  work- 
shops have  been  built  for  repairing  arms.  There  ig 
an  arsenal  at  Pfalzbourg,  but  they  are  in  want  of 
skilful  workmen.  Of  course  the  good  laborers  ren- 
der as  much  service  to  the  state  in  repairing  arms  as 
those  who  go  to  battle;  they  have  more  to  do,  but 
they  do  not  risk  their  lives,  and  they  remain  at  home. 
"Well!  I  went  at  once  to  the  commandant  of  artil- 
lery, and  asked  him  to  accept  Joseph  as  a  workman. 
It  is  nothing  for  a  good  clock-maker  to  repair  a  gun- 
lock,  and  Mr.  Montravel  accepted  him  at  once. 
Here  is  his  order,"  said  he,  showing  us  a  paper 
which  he  took  from  his  pocket. 

I  felt  as  if  I  had  returned  to  life,  and  I  exclaimed, 
"  Oh!  Mr.  Goulden,  you  are  more  than  a  father; 
you  have  saved  my  life." 

Catherine,  who  had  been  overwhelmed  with  anxi- 
ety, got  up  and  went  out,  and  Aunt  Gredel  kissed 
Mr.  Goulden  twice  over,  and  said,  "  Yes,  you  are 
the  best  of  men,  a  man  of  sense  and  of  a  great  spirit. 
If  all  Jacobins  were  like  you,  women  would  wish 
only  for  Jacobins." 

"  But  it  was  the  most  simple  thing  in  the  world  to 
do!" 

"  ISTo,  no;  it  is  your  good  heart  which  gives  you 
good  thoughts." 

"Words  failed  me  in  my  joy  and  astonishment,  and 
while  aunt  was  speaking  I  went  out  into  the  orchard 


WATERLOO  161 

to  take  the  air.     Catherine  was  there  in  a  corner  of 
the  bake-house,  weeping  hot  tears. 

"  Ah !  now  I  can  breathe  again,"  she  said,  "  now 
I  can  live." 

I  embraced  her  with  deep  emotion.  I  saw  what 
she  had  suffered  during  the  last  month,  but  she  was 
a  brave  woman,  and  had  concealed  her  anxiety  from 
me,  knowing  that  I  had  enough  on  my  own  account. 
We  stayed  for  ten  minutes  in  the  orchard  to  wipe 
away  our  tears,  and  then  went  in.  Mr.  Goulden 
said: 

"  "Well,  Joseph !  you  go  to-morrow;  you  must  set 
off  early,  and  you  will  not  lack  work." 

Oh!  what  joy  to  think  I  should  not  be  compelled 
to  go  away,  and  then  too  I  had  other  reasons  for 
wishing  to  remain  at  home,  for  Catherine  and  I  al- 
ready had  our  hopes.  Ah !  those  who  have  not  suf- 
fered cannot  realize  our  feelings,  nor  understand 
what  a  weight  this  good  news  lifted  from  our  hearts. 
We  stayed  an  hour  longer  at  Quatre  Vents,  and  as 
the  people  were  coming  from  vespers,  at  nightfall, 
we  set  off  for  the  town.  Aunt  Gredel  went  with  us 
to  where  the  post  changes  horses,  and  at  seven 
o'clock  we  were  at  home  again. 
1  It  was  thus  that  peace  was  established  between 
Aunt  Gredel  and  Mr.  Goulden,  and  now  she  came 
to  see  us  as  often  as  before.  I  went  every  day  to  the 
arsenal  and  worked  at  repairing  the  guns.  When 

XI 


162  WATERLOO 

the  clock  struck  twelve  I  went  home  to  dinner,  and 
at  one  returned  to  my  work  and  stayed  until  seven 
o'clock.  I  was  at  once  soldier  and  workman,  ex- 
cused from  roll-call  but  overwhelmed  with  work. 
"We  hoped  that  I  could  remain  in  that  position  till 
the  war  was  over,  if  unfortunately  it  commenced 
again,  but  we  were  sure  of  nothing. 


XIV 

OUR  confidence  returned  a  little  after  I  worked 
at  the  arsenal,  but  still  we  were  anxious,  for  hun- 
dreds of  men  on  furloughs  for  six  months,  con- 
scripts, and  old  soldiers  enlisted  for  one  campaign, 
passed  through  the  town  in  citizens'  clothes  but  with 
knapsacks  on  their  backs.  They  all  shouted  "  Vive 
I'Empereur!  "  and  seemed  to  be  furious.  In  the 
great  hall  of  the  town-house  they  received  one  a 
cloak,  another  a  shako,  and  others  epaulettes  and 
gaiters  and  shoes,  at  the  expense  of  the  department, 
and  off  they  went,  and  I  wished  them  a  pleasant 
journey.  All  the  tailors  in  town  were  making  uni- 
forms by  contract,  the  gendarmes  gave  up  their 
horses  to  mount  the  cavalry,  and  the  mayor,  Baron 
Parmentier,  urged  the  young  men  of  sixteen  and 
seventeen  to  join  the  partisans  of  Colonel  Bruce, 
who  defended  the  defiles  of  the  Zorne,  the  Zinselle, 
and  the  Saar. 

The  baron  was  going  to  the  "  Champ  de  Mai," 

and  his  enthusiasm  redoubled.     "  Go !  "  cried  he, 

"  courage !  "  as  he  spoke  to  them  of  the  Romans 

who  fought  for  their  country.    I  thought  to  myself 

163 


164  WATERLOO 

as  I  listened  to  him,  "  If  you  think  all  that  so  beau- 
tiful why  do  you  not  go  yourself." 

You  can  imagine  with  what  courage  I  worked  at 
the  arsenal;  nothing  was  too  much  for  me.  I  would 
haA7e  passed  night  and  day  in  mending  the  guns  and 
adjusting  the  bayonets  and  tightening  the  screws. 
When  the  commandant,  Mr.  Montravel,  came  to 
see  us,  he  praised  me. 

"Excellent!"  said  he,  "that  is  good!  I  am 
pleased  with  you,  Bertha." 

These  words  filled  me  with  satisfaction,  and  I 
did  not  fail  to  report  them  to  Catherine,  in  order 
to  raise  her  spirits.  We  wTere  almost  certain  that 
Mr.  Montravel  would  keep  me  at  Pfalzbourg. 

The  gazettes  were  full  of  the  new  constitution, 
which  they  called  the  "  Additional  Act,"  and  the 
act  of  the  "  Champ  de  Mai."  Mr.  Goulden  always 
had  something  to  say,  sometimes  about  one  article 
and  sometimes  another,  but  I  mixed  no  more  in 
these  affairs,  and  repented  of  having  complained  of 
the  processions  and  expiations;  I  had  had  enough 
of  politics. 

This  lasted  till  the  23d  of  May.  That  morning 
about  ten  o'clock  I  was  in  the  great  hall  of  the  ar- 
senal, filling  the  boxes  with  guns.  The  great  door 
was  wide  open,  and  the  men  were  waiting  with  their 
wagons  before  the  bullet  park,  to  load  up  the  boxes. 
I  had  nailed  the  last  one,  when  Robert,  the  guard, 


WATERLOO  165 

touched  me  on  the  shoulder  and  said  in  my 
ear: 

"  Bertha,  the  Commandant  Montravel  wishes  to 
see  you.  He  is  in  the  pavilion." 

"  What  does  he  want  of  me  ?  " 

"  I  do  not  know." 

I  was  afraid  directly,  but  I  went  at  once.  I 
crossed  the  grand  court,  near  the  sheds  for  the  gun- 
carriages,  mounted  the  stairs,  and  knocked  softly  at 
the  door. 

"  Come  in,"  said  the  commandant. 

I  opened  the  door  all  in  a  tremble,  and  stood  with 
my  cap  in  my  hand.  Mr.  Montravel  was  a  tall, 
brown,  thin  man,  with  a  little  stoop  in  his  shoulders. 
He  was  walking  hastily  up  and  down  his  room,  in 
the  midst  of  his  books  and  maps,  and  arms  hung  on 
the  wall. 

"  Ah!  Bertha,  it  is  you,  is  it?  I  have  disagree- 
able news  to  tell  you,  the  third  battalion  to  which 
you  belong  leaves  for  Metz." 

On  hearing  this  my  heart  sank,  and  I  could  not 
say  a  word.  He  looked  at  me,  and  after  a  moment 
he  added: 

"  Do  not  be  troubled,  you  have  been  married  for 
several  months,  and  you  are  a  good  workman,  and 
that  deserves  consideration.  You  will  give  this  let- 
ter to  Colonel  Desmichels  at  the  arsenal  at  Metz; 
he  is  one  of  my  friends,  and  will  find  employment  in 


1 66  WATERLOO 

some  of  his  workshops  for  you,  you  may  be  cer- 
tain." 

I  took  the  letter  which  he  handed  me,  thanked 
him,  and  went  home  filled  with  alarm.  Zebede,  Mr. 
Goulden,  and  Catherine  were  talking  together  in 
the  shop,  distress  was  written  on  every  face.  They 
knew  everything.  "  The  third  battalion  is  going," 
I  said  as  I  entered,  "  but  Mr.  Montravel  has  just 
given  me  a  letter  to  the  director  of  the  arsenal  at 
Metz.  Do  not  be  anxious,  I  shall  not  make  the 
campaign." 

I  was  almost  choking.  Mr.  Goulden  took  the  let- 
ter and  said,  "  It  is  open;  we  can  read  it." 

Then  he  read  the  letter,  in  which  Mr.  Montravel 
recommended  me  to  his  friend,  saying  that  I  was 
married,  a  good  workman,  industrious,  and  that  I 
could  render  real  service  at  the  arsenal.  He  could 
have  said  nothing  better. 

"  Now  the  matter  is  certain,"  said  Zebede. 

"  Yes,  you  will  be  retained  in  the  arsenal  at 
Metz,"  said  Father  Goulden. 

Catherine  wa*s  very  pale,  she  kissed  me  and  said, 
"  What  happiness,  Joseph!  " 

They  all  pretended  to  believe  that  I  should  re- 
main at  Metz,  and  I  tried  to  hide  my  fears  from 
them.  But  the  effort  almost  suffocated  me,  and 
I  could  hardly  avoid  sobbing,  when  happily  I 
thought  I  would  go  and  announce  the  news  to  Aunt 


WATERLOO  167 

Gredel.  So  I  said,  "  Although  it  will  not  be  very 
long,  and  I  shall  stay  in  Metz,  yet  I  must  go  and 
tell  the  good  news  to  Aunt  Gredel.  I  will  be  back 
between  five  and  six,  and  Catherine  will  have  time 
to  prepare  my  haversack,  and  we  will  have  supper." 

"  Yes,  Joseph,  go!  "  said  Father  Goulden.  Cath- 
erine said  not  a  word,  for  she  could  hardly  restrain 
her  tears.  I  set  off  like  a  madman.  Zebede,  who 
was  returning  to  the  barracks,  told  me  at  the  door, 
that  the  officer  in  charge  at  the  town-house  would 
give  me  my  uniform,  and  that  I  must  be  there  about 
five  o'clock.  I  listened,  as  if  in  a  dream,  to  his 
words,  and  ran  till  I  was  outside  of  the  city.  Once 
on  the  glacis  I  ran  on  without  knowing  where,  in 
the  trenches,  and  by  the  Trois-Chateaux  and  the 
Baraques-a-en-haut,  and  along  the  forest  to  Quatre 
Vents. 

I  cannot  describe  to  you  the  thoughts  that  ran 
through  iny  brain.  I  was  bewildered,  and  wanted 
to  run  away  to  Switzerland.  But  the  worst  of  all 
was  when  I  approached  Quatre  Vents  by  the  path 
along  the  Daun.  It  was  about  three  o'clock.  Aunt 
Gredel  was  putting  up  some  poles  for  her  beans,  in 
the  rear  of  the  garden,  and  she  saw  me  in  the  dis- 
tance, and  said  to  herself: 

"  Why  it  is  Joseph !  what  is  he  doing  in  the 
grain? " 

But  when  I  got  into  the  road,  which  was  full  of 


168  WATERLOO 

ruts  and  sand  and  which  the  sun  made  as  hot  as  a 
furnace,  I  went  on  more  slowly  with  my  head  bent 
down,  thinking  I  should  never  dare  to  go  in,  when, 
suddenly  aunt  exclaimed  from  behind  the  hedge, 
"Is  it  you,  Joseph?" 

Then  I  shivered.     "  Yes,  it  is  I." 

She  ran  out  into  the  little  elder  alley,  and  seeing 
me  so  pale  she  said,  "  I  know  why  you  have  come, 
you  are  going  away!  " 

"  Yes,"  I  replied,  "  the  others  are  going,  but  I 
am  to  stay  in  Metz;  it  is  very  fortunate." 

She  said  nothing,  and  we  went  into  the  kitchen, 
which  was  very  cool  compared  with  the  heat  outside. 
She  sat  down,  and  I  read  her  the  commandant's  let- 
ter. She  listened  to  it,  and  repeated,  "  Yes,  it  is 
very  fortunate." 

And  we  sat  and  looked  at  each  ucher  without 
speaking  a  word,  and  then  she  took  my  head  be- 
tween her  hands  and  kissed  me,  and  embraced  me 
for  a  long  time,  and  I  could  see  she  was  crying, 
though  she  did  not  say  a  word. 

"  You  weep,"  said  I,  "  but  since  I  am  to  stay  in 
Metz!" 

Still  she  did  not  speak,  but  went  and  brought 
some  wine.  I  took  a  glass,  and  she  asked.  "  What 
docs  Catherine  say?" 

"  She  is  glad  that  I  am  to  remain  at  the  arsenal; 
and  Mr.  Goulden  also." 


AUNT   CRIED  OUT   TO   ME    "IS   IT   YOU,   JOSEPH?" 


WATERLOO  '  169 

"  That  is  well;  and  are  theypreparing  what  you 
need?" 

"  Yes,  Aunt  Gredel,  and  I  must  be  at  the  city 
hall  before  five  o'clock  to  receive  my  uniform." 

"  Well!  then  you  must  go;  kiss  me,  Joseph.  I 
will  not  go  with  you.  I  do  not  wish  to  see  the  bat- 
talion leave — I  will  stay  here.  I  must  live  a  long 
while  yet — Catherine  has  need  of  me — "  here  her 
restraint  gave  way. 

Suddenly  she  checked  herself,  and  said,  "  At 
what  time  do  you  leave  ? " 

"  To-morrow,  at  seven  o'clock,  Mamma  Gredel." 

""Well!  at  eight  o'clock  I  will  be  there.  You  will 
be  far  away,  but  you  will  know  that  the  mother  of 
your  wife  is  there,  that  she  will  take  care  of  her 
daughter,  that  she  loves  you,  that  she  has  only  you 
in  the  whole  world." 

The  courageous  woman  sobbed  aloud;  she  accom- 
panied me  to  the  door,  and  I  left  her.  It  seemed  as 
if  I  had  not  a  drop  of  blood  left  in  my  veins.  Just 
as  the  clock  struck  five  I  reached  the  town-house. 
I  went  up  and  saw  that  hall  again  where  I  had  lost, 
that  cursed  hall  where  everybody  drew  unlucky 
numbers.  I  received  a  cloak  and  coat,  pantaloons, 
gaiters,  and  shoes.  Zebede,  who  was  waiting  for 
me,  told  one  of  the  musketeers  to  take  them  to  the 
mess-room. 

"  You  will  come  early  and  put  them  on,"  said  he; 


170 


WATERLOO 


"  your  musket  and  knapsack  have  been  in  the  rack 
since  morning." 

"  Come  with  me,"  said  I. 

"  No,  I  cannot,  the  sight  of  Catherine  breaks  my 
heart;  and  besides  I  must  stay  with  my  father. 
Who  knows  whether  I  shall  find  the  old  man  alive 
at  the  end  of  a  year?  I  promised  to  take  supper 
with  you,  but  I  shall  not  go." 

I  \vas  obliged  to  go  home  alone.  My  haversack 
was  all  ready;  my  old  haversack,  the  only  thing  I 
had  saved  from  Hanau,  as  my  head  rested  on  it  in 
the  wagon.  Mr.  Goulden  was  at  work.  He  turned 
round  without  speaking,  and  I  asked,  "  Where  is 
Catherine?" 

"  She  is  upstairs." 

I  knew  she  was  crying,  and  I  wanted  to  go  up, 
but  my  legs  and  my  courage  both  failed  me. 

I  told  Mr.  Goulden  of  my  visit  to  Quatre- Vents, 
and  then  we  sat  and  waited,  thinking,  without  dar- 
ing to  look  each  other  in  the  face.  It  was  already 
dark  when  Catherine  came  down.  She  laid  the 
table  in  the  twilight,  and  then  I  took  her  hand,  and 
made  her  sit  down  on  my  knee,  and  we  remained 
so  for  half  an  hour. 

Then  Mr.  Goulden  asked: 

"  Is  not  Zebede  coming?  " 

"  No,  he  cannot  come." 

"  Well!  let  us  take  our  supper  then." 


WATERLOO  171 

But  no  one  was  hungry.  Catherine  removed  the 
table  about  nine  o'clock,  and  we  all  retired.  It  was 
the  most  terrible  night  I  ever  passed  in  my  life. 
Catherine  was  in  a  deathly  swoon.  I  called  her, 
but  she  did  not  answer.  At  midnight  I  wakened 
Mr.  Goulden,  and  he  dressed  himself  and  came  up 
to  our  chamber.  We  gave  her  some  sugar-water, 
when  she  revived  and  got  up.  I  cannot  tell  you 
everything;  I  only  know  that  she  sank  at  my  feet 
and  begged  me  not  to  abandon  her,  as  if  I  did  it  vol- 
untarily !  but  she  was  crazed.  Mr.  Goulden  wanted 
to  call  a  doctor,  but  I  prevented  him.  Toward 
morning  she  recovered  entirely,  and  after  a  long  fit 
of  weeping,  she  fell  asleep  in  my  arms.  I  did  not 
even  dare  to  embrace  her,  and  we  went  out  softly 
And  left  her. 

When  we  feel  all  the  miseries  of  life,  we  exclaim : 
"•  Why  are  we  in  the  world  ?  Why  did  we  not  sleep 
through  the  eternal  ages?  What  have  we  done,  that 
we  must  see  those  we  love  suffer,  when  we  are  not 
in  fault?  It  is  not  God,  but  man,  who  breaks  our 
hearts." 

After  we  went  downstairs  Mr.  Goulden  said  to 
me,  "  She  is  asleep,  she  knows  nothing'  of  it  all, 
and  that  is  a  blessing;  you  will  go  before  she 
wakes."  I  thanked  God  for  His  goodness,  and  we 
sat  waiting  for  the  least  sound,  till  at  last  the  drums 
beat  the  assembly.  Then  Mr.  Goulden  looked  at 


172 


WATERLOO 


me  very  gravely,  we  rose,  and  he  buckled  my  knap- 
sack on  my  shoulders  in  silence. 

At  last  he  said :  "  Joseph,  go  and  see  the  com- 
mandant in  Metz,  but  count  upon  nothing;  the 
danger  is  so  great  that  France  has  need  of  all  her 
children  for  her  defence,  and  this  time  it  is  not  a 
question  of  acquiring  from  others,  but  of  saving 
our  own  country.  Remember  that  it  is  yourself  and 
your  wife  and  all  that  is  dearest  to  you  in  the  world 
that  is  at  stake."  We  went  down  to  the  street  in 
silence,  embraced  each  other,  and  then  I  went  to  the 
barracks.  Zebede  took  me  to  the  mess-room  and  I 
put  on  my  uniform.  All  that  I  remember  after  so 
many  years  is,  that  Zebede's  father,  who  was  there, 
took  my  clothes  and  made  them  into  a  bundle  and 
said  he  would  take  them  home  after  our  departure ; 
and  the  battalion  filed  out  by  the  little  rue  de 
Lanche  through  the  French  gate.  A  few  children 
ran  after  us,  and  the  soldiers  on  guard  presented 
arms;  we  were  en  route  for  Waterloo. 


XV 

AT  Sarrebourg  we  received  tickets  for  lodgings. 
Mine  was  for  the  old  printer  Jarcisse,  who  knew 
Mr.  Goulden  and  Aunt  Gredel,  and  who  made  me 
dine  at  his  table  with  my  new  comrade  and  bed- 
fellow, Jean  Buche,  the  son  of  a  wood-cutter  of 
Harberg,  who  had  never  eaten  anything  but  pota- 
toes before  he  was  conscripted.  He  devoured  every- 
thing, even  to  the  bones  that  they  set  before  us. 
But  I  was  so  melancholy,  that  to  hear  him  crunch 
the  bones  made  me  nervous.  Father  Jarcisse  tried 
to  console  me,  but  every  word  he  said  only  increased 
my  pain.  We  passed  the  remainder  of  that  day 
and  the  following  night  at  Sarrebourg.  The  next 
day  we  kept  on  our  route  to  the  village  of  Mezieres, 
the  next  to  the  Vic,  and  on  to  Soigne,  till  on  the 
fifth  day  we  came  to  Metz.  I  do  not  need  to  tell 
you  of  our  march,  of  the  soldiers  white  with  dust, 
how  we  passed  one  magazine  after  another,  with  our 
knapsacks  on  our  backs,  and  our  guns  carried  at 
will,  talking,  laughing,  looking  at  the  young  girls 
as  we  passed  through  the  villages,  at  the  carts,  the 
manure  heaps,  the  sheds,  the  hills,  and  the  valleys, 
173 


174 


WATERLOO 


without  troubling  ourselves  about  anything.  And 
when  one  is  sad  and  has  left  his  wife  at  home,  and 
dear  friends  too,  whom  he  may  never  see  again,  all 
these  pass  before  his  eyes  like  shadows,  and  a  hun- 
dred steps  more  and  they  too  are  unthought  of.  But 
yet  the  view  of  Met/,  with  its  tall  cathedral  and 
its  ancient  dwellings,  and  its  frowning  ramparts 
awakened  me.  Two  hours  before  we  arrived,  we 
kept  thinking  we  should  soon  reach  the  earthworks, 
and  hastened  our  steps  in  order  the  sooner  to  get 
into  the  shade.  I  thought  of  Colonel  Desmichels, 
and  had  a  little — very  little,  hope.  "  If  fate  wills!  " 
I  thought,  and  I  felt  for  my  letter. 

Zebede  did  not  talk  to  .me  now,  but  from  time  to 
time  he  turned  his  head  and  looked  back  at  me. 
It  was  not  exactly  as  it  was  in  the  old  campaign, 
he  was  sergeant,  and  I  only  a  common  soldier;  we 
loved  each  other  always,  but  that  made  a  difference 
of  course.  Jean  Buche  marched  along  beside  me, 
with  his  round  shoulders  and  his  feet  turned  in  like 
a  wolf.  The  only  thing  he  said  from  time  to  time 
was,  that  his  shoes  hurt  him  on  the  march,  and  that 
they  should  only  be  worn  on  parade.  During  two 
months  the  drill-sergeant  had  not  been  able  to  make 
him  turn  out  his  toes,  or  to  raise  his  shoulders,  but 
for  all  that  he  could  march  terribly  well  in  his  own 
fashion,  and  without  being  fatigued.  At  last  about 
five  in  the  afternoon,  we  reached  the  outposts.  They 


WATERLOO  175 

soon  recognized  us,  and  the  captain  of  the  guard 
himself  exclaimed,  "Pass!"  The  drums  rolled, 
and  we  entered  the  oldest  town  I  had  ever  seen. 

Metz  is  at  the  confluence  of  the  Seille  and  the 
Moselle.  The  houses  are  four  or  five  stories  high; 
their  old  walls  are  full  of  beams  as  at  Saverne  and 
Bouxviller,  the  windows  round  and  square,  great 
and  small,  on  the  same  line,  with  shutters  and  with- 
out, some  with  glass  and  some  without  any.  It  is 
as  old  as  the  mountains  and  rivers.  The  roofs  pro- 
ject about  six  feet,  spreading  their  shadows  over 
the  black  water,  in  which  old  shoes,  rags,  and  dead 
dogs  are  floating.  If  you  look  upward  you  will 
be  sure  to  see  the  face  of  some  old  Jew  at  the  win- 
dows in  the  roof,  with  his  gray  beard  and  crooked 
nose,  or  a  child  who  is  risking  his  neck.  Properly 
speaking,  it  is  a  city  of  Jews  and  soldiers.  Poor 
people  are  not  wanting  either.  It  is  much  worse  in 
this  respect  than  at  Mayence,  or  at  Strasbourg,  or 
even  at  Frankfort.  If  they  have  not  changed  since 
then,  they  love  their  ease  now.  In  spite  of  my  sad- 
ness I  could  not  help  looking  at  these  lanes  and 
alleys.  The  town  swarmed  with  national  guards; 
they  were  arriving  from  Longwy,  from  Sarrelouis 
and  other  places;  the  soldiers  left  and  were  replaced 
by  these  guards. 

We  came  upon  a  square  encumbered  with  beds 
and  mattresses,  bedding,  etc.,  which  the  citizens  had 


176  WATERLOO 

furnished  for  the  troops.  We  stacked  arms  in  front 
of  the  barracks,  every  window  of  which  was  opeu 
from  top  to  bottom.  We  waited,  thinking  we  should 
be  lodged  there,  but  at  the  end  of  twenty  minutes 
the  distribution  commenced,  and  each  man  received 
twenty-five  sous  and  a  ticket  for  lodging.  We  broke 
rank,  each  one  going  his  own  way.  Jean  Buche, 
who  had  never  seen  any  other  town  than  Pf  alzbourg, 
did  not  leave  me  for  a  moment.  Our  ticket  was  for 
Elias  Meyer,  butcher,  in  the  rue  St.  Valery,  When 
we  reached  the  house  the  butcher  was  cutting  meat 
in  the  arched  and  grated  window,  and  was  anything 
but  pleased  to  see  us,  and  received  us  very  ungra- 
ciously. He  was  a  fat,  red,  round-faced  Jew,  with 
silver  rings  on  his  fingers  and  in  his  ears.  His  thin, 
yellow-skinned  wife  came  down  exclaiming  that 
they  had  "  had  lodgers  for  two  nights  before,  that 
the  mayor's  secretary  did  it  on  purpose,  that  he 
sent  soldiers  every  day,  and  that  the  neighbors  did 
not  have  them,"  and  so  on. 

But  they  allowed  us  to  enter  after  all.  The 
daughter  came  and  stared  at  us,  and  behind  her 
was  a  fat  servant-woman,  frizzled  and  very  dirty. 
I  seem  to  see  those  people  before  me  still,  in  that 
old  room  with  its  oak  wainscoting,  and  the  great 
copper  lamp  hanging  from  the  ceiling,  and  the 
grated  window  looking  into  the  little  court.  The 
daughter,  who  was  very  pale  and  had  very  black 


WATERLOO  177 

eyes,  said  something  to  her  mother  and  then  the 
servant  was  ordered  to  show  us  to  the  garret,  to  the 
beggars'  chamber,  for  all  the  Jews  feed  and  shelter 
beggars  on  Friday.  My  comrade  from  Harberg 
did  not  complain,  but  I  was  indignant.  We  fol- 
lowed the  servant  up  a  winding  stair  slippery  with 
filth,  to  the  room.  It  was  separated  from  the  rest 
of  the  garret  by  slats,  through  which  we  could  see 
the  dirty  linen.  It  was  lighted  by  a  little  window 
like  a  lozenge  in  the  roof.  Even  if  I  had  not  been 
so  miserable  I  should  have  thought  it  abominable. 
There  was  only  one  chair  and  a  straw  mattress  on 
the  floor  and  one  single  coverlet  for  us  both.  The 
servant  stood  staring  at  us  at  the  door,  as  if  she  ex- 
pected thanks  or  compliments.  I  took  off  my  knap- 
sack, sad  enough  as  you  can  imagine,  and  Jean 
Buche  did  the  same.  The  servant  turned  to  go 
downstairs  when  I  cried  out :  "  Wait  a  minute,  we 
will  go  down  too,  we  do  not  want  to  break  our  necks 
on  those  stairs."  We  changed  our  shoes  and  stock- 
ings and  fastened  the  door  and  went  down  to  the 
shop  to  buy  some  meat.  Jean  went  to  the  baker  op- 
posite for  some  bread,  and  as  our  ticket  gave  us  a 
place  at  the  fire  we  went  to  the  kitchen  to  make  our 
soup.  The  butcher  came  to  see  us  just  as  we  were 
finishing  our  supper.  He  was  smoking  a  big  Ulm 
pipe.  He  asked  where  we  were  from.  I  was  so  in- 
dignant I  would  not  answer  him,  but  Jean  Buche 

12 


178  WATERLOO 

told  him  that  I  was  a  watch-maker  from  Pf alzbourg, 
upon  which  he  treated  me  with  more  consideration. 
He  said  that  his  brother  travelled  in  Alsace  and  Lor- 
raine, with  watches,  rings,  watch-chains,  and  other 
articles  of  silver  and  gold,  and  jewelry,  and  that  his 
name  was  Samuel  Meyer,  and  perhaps  we  had  had 
business  with  him.  I  replied  that  I  had  seen  his 
brother  two  or  three  times  at  Mr.  Goulden's,  which 
was  true.  Thereupon  he  ordered  the  servant  to 
bring  us  a  pillow,  but  he  did  nothing  more  for  us  and 
we  went  to  bed. 

We  were  very  weary  and  were  soon  sound  asleep. 
I  thought  to  get  up  very  early  and  go  to  the  arsenal, 
but  I  was  still  asleep  when  my  comrade  shook  me 
and  said:  "  The  assembly!  " 

I  listened — it  was  the  assembly!  "We  only  had 
time  to  dress,  buckle  on  our  knapsacks,  take  our 
guns,  and  run  down.  When  we  reached  the  bar- 
racks the  roll-call  had  begun.  When  it  was  finished 
two  wagons  came  up,  and  we  received  fifty  ball-car- 
tridges each.  The  Commandant  Gemeau,  the  cap- 
tains, and  all  the  officers  were  there.  I  saw  that  all 
was  over,  that  I  had  nothing  to  count  on  longer,  and 
that  my  letter  to  Colonel  Desmichels  might  be  good 
after  the  campaign  was  over,  if  I  escaped  and  should 
be  obliged  to  serve  out  my  seven  years.  Zebede 
looked  at  me  from  a  distance — I  turned  away  my 
head.  The  order  came: 


WATERLOO  179 

"  Carry  arms !  arms  at  will !  by  file !  left !  for- 
ward! march!  " 

The  drums  rolled,  we  marked  step,  and  the  roofs, 
the  houses,  the  windows,  the  lanes,  and  the  people 
seemed  to  glide  past  us.  We  crossed  over  the  first 
bridge  and  the  drawbridge.  The  drums  ceased  to 
beat  and  we  went  on  toward  Thionville.  The  other 
troops  followed  the  same  route,  cavalry  and  in- 
fantry. 

That  night  we  reached  the  village  of  Beauregard, 
the  next  night  we  were  at  Vitry,  near  Thionville, 
where  we  were  stationed  till  the  8th  of  June. 
Buche  and  I  were  lodged  with  a  fat  landlord  named 
Pochon.  He  was  a  very  good  man  and  gave  us  ex- 
cellent white  wine  to  drink,  and  liked  to  talk  politics 
like  Mr.  Goulden.  During  our  stay  in  this  village 
General  Schoeffer  came  from  Thionville,  and  we 
went  to  be  reviewed  with  our  arms  at  a  large  farm 
called  "  Silvange." 

It  is  a  woody  country,  and  we  often  went,  several 
of  us  together,  to  make  excursions  in  the  vicinity. 
One  day  Zebede  came  and  took  me  to  see  the  great 
foundry  at  Moyeuvre  where  we  saw  then  run  bul- 
lets and  bombs.  "We  talked  about  Catherine  and 
Mr.  Goulden,  and  he  told  me  to  write  to  them,  but 
somehow  I  was  afraid  to  hear  from  home,  and  I 
turned  my  thoughts  away  from  Pfalzbourg. 

On  the  8th  of  June  we  left  this  village  very  early 


i8o  WATERLOO 

in  the  morning,  returning  near  to  Metz  but  without 
entering  the  city.  The  city  gates  were  shut  and  the 
cannon  frowned  on  the  walls  as  in  time  of  war.  We 
slept  at  Chatel,  and  the  next  day  we  were  at  Etain, 
the  day  following  at  Dannevoux,  where  I  was  lodged 
with  a  good  patriot  named  Sebastian  Perrin.  He 
was  a  rich  man,  and  wanted  to  know  the  details  of 
everything. 

As  a  great  number  of  battalions  had  followed  the 
same  route  before  us,  he  said,  "  In  a  month  perhaps 
we  shall  see  great  things,  all  the  troops  are  marching 
into  Belgium.  The  Emperor  is  going  to  fall  upon 
the  English  and  Prussians." 

This  was  the  last  place  where  we  had  good  sup- 
plies. The  next  day  we  arrived  at  Yong,  which  is 
in  a  miserable  country.  We  slept  on  the  12th  of 
June  at  Vivier,  and  the  13th  at  Cul-de-Sard.  The 
farther  we  advanced  the  more  troops  we  encoun- 
tered, and  as  I  had  seen  these  things  in  Germany, 
I  said  to  Jean  Buche : 

"  Now  we  shall  have  hot  work." 

On  all  sides  and  in  every  direction,  files  of  in- 
fantry, cavalry,  and  artillery,  were  seen  as  far  as  the 
eye  could  reach.  The  weather  was  as  delightful  as 
possible,  and  nothing  could  be  more  promising  than 
the  ripening  grain.  But  it  was  very  hot.  What 
astonished  me  was,  that  neither  before  nor  behind, 
on  the  right  hand  nor  on  the  left  could  we  discover 


WATERLOO  181 

any  enemies.  Nobody  knew  anything  about  them. 
The  rumor  circulated  amongst  us  that  we  were  to 
attack  the  English.  I  had  seen  the  Russians,  Prus- 
sians, Austrians,  Bavarians  and  Wurtemburgers  and 
the  Swedes.  I  knew  the  people  of  all  the  countries 
in  the  world,  and  now  I  was  going  to  make  the  ac- 
quaintance of  the  English  also.  If  we  must  be  ex- 
terminated, I  thought,  it  might  as  well  be  done  by 
them  as  by  the  Germans.  We  could  not  avoid  our 
fate — if  I  was  to  escape,  I  should  escape,  but  if  I 
were  doomed  to  leave  my  bones  here,  all  I  could  do 
would  avail  nothing — but  the  more  we  destroyed  of 
them  the  greater  would  be  the  chances  for  us.  This 
was  the  way  I  reasoned  with  myself,  and  if  it  did  me 
no  good  it  caused  me  at  least  no  harm. 


XVI 

WE  passed  the  Meuse  on  the  12th,  and  during  the 
13th  and  14th  we  marched  along  the  wretched 
roads,  bordered  with  grain  fields,  barley,  oats,  and 
hemp,  without  end.  The  heat  was  extraordinary, 
the  sweat  ran  down  to  our  hips  from  under  our  knap- 
sacks and  cartridge-boxes.  "What  a  misfortune  to 
be  poor,  and  unable  to  buy  a  man  to  march  and  take 
the  musket-shots  in  our  place !  After  having  gone 
through  the  rain,  wind,  and  snow,  and  mud,  in  Ger- 
many, the  turn  of  the  sun  and  dust  had  come.  And 
I  saw  too,  that  the  destruction  was  approaching,  you 
could  hear  the  sound  of  the  drum  and  the  bugle  in 
every  direction,  and  whenever  the  battalion  passed 
over  an  elevation  long  lines  of  helmets  and  lances 
and  bayonets  were  seen  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach. 

Zebede,  with  his  musket  on  his  shoulder,  would 
exclaim  cheerfully,  "  Well,  Joseph !  we  are  going 
to  see  the  whites  of  the  Prussians'  eyes  again;"  and 
I  would  force  myself  to  reply,  "  Oh !  yes,  the  wed- 
dings will  soon  begin  again."  As  if  I  wanted  to 
risk  my  life  and  leave  Catherine  a  young  widow  for 
the  sake  of  something  which  did  not  in  the  least  con- 
cern me. 

182 


WATERLOO  183 

That  same  day  at  seven  o'clock  we  reached  Koly. 
The  hussars  occupied  the  town  already,  and  we  were 
obliged  to  bivouac  in  a  deep  road  along  the  side  of 
the  hill.  We  had  hardly  stacked  our  arms  when 
several  general  officers  arrived.  The  Commandant 
Gemeau,  who  had  just  dismounted,  sprang  upon  his 
horse  and  hurried  to  meet  them.  They  conversed 
a  moment  together  and  came  down  into  our  road. 
Everybody  looked  on  and  said,  "  Something  has 
happened."  One  of  the  officers,  General  Pechaux, 
whom  we  knew  afterward,  ordered  the  drums  to 
beat,  and  shouted,  "  Form  a  circle."  The  road  was 
too  narrow,  and  some  of  the  soldiers  went  up  on  the 
slope  each  side  of  the  road,  while  the  others  re- 
mained on  the  road.  All  the  battalion  looked  on 
while  the  general  unrolled  a  paper,  and  said,  "  Proc- 
lamation from  the  Emperor." 

"When  he  had  said  that,  the  silence  was  so  pro- 
found that  you  would  have  thought  yourself  alone 
in  the  midst  of  these  great  fields.  Every  one,  from 
the  last  conscript  to  the  Commandant  Gemeau,  lis- 
tened, and,  even  to-day,  when  I  think  of  it,  after 
fifty  years,  it  moves  my  heart ;  it  was  grand  and  ter- 
rible. This  is  what  the  general  read : 

"  Soldiers!  To-day  is  the  anniversary  of  Marengo  and 
of  Friedland,  which  twice  decided  the  fate  of  Europe! 
Then,  as  after  Austerlitz  and  after  Wagram,  we  were 
too  generous,  we  believed  the  protestations  and  the 
oaths  of  princes,  whom  we  left  on  their  thrones.  They 


184  WATERLOO 

have  combined  to  attack  the  independence  and  even  the 
most  sacred  rights  of  France.  They  have  commenced 
the  most  unjust  aggressions,  let  us  meet  them!  They 
and  we, — are  we  no  longer  of  the  same  race?" 

The  whole  battalion  shouted,  "  Vive  VEm- 
pereur."  The  general  raised  his  hand,  and  all  were 
silent. 

"  Soldiers!  at  Jena,  we  were  as  one  to  three  against 
these  Prussians  who  are  so  arrogant  to-day;  at  Mont- 
mirail  we  were  as  one  against  six!  Let  those  among 
you  who  have  been  prisoners  of  the  English  tell  the  tale 
of  their  frightful  sufferings  in  their  prison  ships.  The 
Saxons,  the  Belgians,  the  Hanoverians,  the  soldiers  of 
the  Confederation  of  the  Rhine,  complain  that  they  are 
compelled  to  lend  their  arms  to  princes  who  are  enemies 
of  justice  and  of  the  rights  of  all  nations.  They  know 
that  this  coalition  is  insatiable.  After  having  devoured 
twelve  millions  of  Poles,  twelve  millions  of  Italians,  one 
million  of  Saxons,  six  millions  of  Belgians,  it  will  de- 
vour all  the  states  of  the  second  order  in  Germany. 
Madmen!  a  moment  of  prosperity  has  blinded  them; 
the  oppression  and  humiliation  of  the  French  people 
is  beyond  their  power.  If  they  enter  France  they  will  find 
their  graves  there.  Soldiers,  we  have  forced  marches  to 
make,  battles  to  wage,  and  perils  to  encounter,  but,  if 
we  are  constant,  victory  will  be  ours.  The  rights  of 
man  and  the  happiness  of  our  country  will  be  recon- 
quered. For  all  Frenchmen,  who  have  hearts,  the  time 
has  come  to  conquer  or  to  perish. — NAPOLEON." 

The  shouts  which  arose  were  like  thunder,  it  was 
as  if  the  Emperor  had  breathed  his  war  spirit  into 
our  hearts,  and  moved  us  as  one  man  to  destroy  our 


WATERLOO  185 

enemies.  The  shouts  continued  long  after  the  gen- 
eral had  gone,  and  even  I  was  satisfied.  I  saw  that 
it  was  the  truth,  that  the  Prussians,  Austrians,  and 
Russians,  who  had  talked  so  much  of  the  deliverance 
of  the  people,  had  profited  by  the  first  opportunity 
to  grasp  everything,  that  those  grand  words  about 
liberty,  which  had  served  to  excite  their  young  men 
against  us  in  1813,  and  all  the  promises  of  constitu- 
tions which  they  had  made,  had  been  set  aside  and 
broken.  I  looked  upon  them  as  beggars,  as  men 
who  had  not  kept  their  word,  who  despised  the  peo- 
ple, and  whose  ideas  were  very  narrow  and  limited, 
and  consisted  in  always  keeping  the  best  place  for 
themselves  and  their  children  and  descendants 
whether  they  were  good  or  bad,  just  or  unjust,  with- 
out any  reference  to  God's  law.  That  was  the  way 
I  looked  at  it;  the  proclamation  seemed  to  me  very 
beautiful.  I  thought  too,  that  Father  Goulden  would 
be  pleased  with  it,  because  the  Emperor  had  not  for- 
gotten the  rights  of  man,  which  are  liberty,  equality, 
and  justice,  and  all  those  grand  ideas  which  distin- 
guish men  from  brutes,  causing  them  to  respect 
themselves  and  the  rights  of  their  neighbors  also. 
Our  courage  was  greatly  strengthened  by  these 
strong  and  just  words.  The  old  soldiers  laughed 
and  said,  "  We  shall  not  be  kept  waiting  this  time. 
On  the  first  march  we  shall  fall  upon  the  Prussians." 
But  the  conscripts,  who  had  never  yet  heard  the 


1 86  WATERLOO 

bullets  whistle,  were  the  most  excited  of  all. 
Buche's  eyes  sparkled  like  those  of  a  cat,  as  he  sat  on 
the  road-side,  with  his  knapsack  opened  on  the 
slope,  slowly  sharpening  his  sabre,  and  trying  the 
edge  on  the  toe  of  his  shoe.  Others  were  setting 
their  bayonets  and  adjusting  their  flints,  as  they  al- 
ways do  when  on  the  eve  of  a  battle.  At  those 
times  their  heads  are  full  of  thought,  which  makes 
them  knit  their  brows,  and  compress  their  lips;  giv- 
ing them  anything  but  pleasant  faces. 

The  sun  sank  lower  and  lower  behind  the  grain 
fields,  several  detachments  of  men  went  to  the  vil- 
lage for  wood,  and  they  brought  back  onions  and 
leeks  and  salt,  and  even  several  quarters  of  beef  were 
hung  on  long  sticks  over  their  shoulders.  But  it 
was  when  the  men  were  around  the  fires,  watching 
their  kettles  as  they  commenced  to  boil,  and  the 
smoke  went  curling  up  into  the  air,  that  their  faces 
were  happiest,  one  would  talk  of  Lutzen,  another  of 
Wagram,  of  Austerlitz,  of  Jena,  of  Friedland,  of 
Spain,  of  Portugal,  and  of  all  the  countries  in  the 
world.  They  all  talked  at  once,  but  only  the  old 
soldiers  whose  arms  were  covered  with  chevrons, 
were  listened  to.  They  were  most  interesting,  as 
they  marked  the  positions  on  the  ground  with  their 
fingers,  and  explained  them  by  a  line  on  the  right, 
and  a  line  on  the  left.  You  seemed  to  see  it  all 
while  listening  to  them.  Each  one  had  his  pewter 


WATERLOO  187 

spoon  at  Ms  button-hole,  and  kept  thinking,  "  The 
soup  will  be  capital,  the  meat  is  good  and  fat." 

When  we  were  stationed  for  the  night,  the  order 
was  given  to  extinguish  the  fires  and  not  to  beat  the 
retreat,  which  indicated  that  the  enemy  was  near, 
and  that  they  feared  to  alarm  them. 

The  moon  was  shining,  and  Buche  and  I  were  eat- 
ing at  the  same  mess;  when  we  had  finished,  he 
talked  to  me  more  than  two  hours  about  his  life  at 
Harberg,  how  they  were  obliged  to  drag  two  or  three 
cords  of  wood  on  great  sleds  at  the  risk  of  being  run 
over  and  crushed,  especially  when  the  snow  was 
melting.  Compared  with  that,  the  life  of  a  soldier, 
with  his  pleasant  mess  and  good  bread,  regular  ra- 
tions, the  neat  warm  uniform,  the  stout  linen  shirts, 
seemed  to  him  delightful.  He  had  never  dreamed 
that  he  could  be  so  comfortable,  and  his  strongest 
desire  was  to  let  his  two  younger  brothers,  Gaspard 
and  Jacob,  know  how  delighted  he  was,  in  order 
that  they  might  enlist  as  soon  as  they  were  old 
enough. 

"  Yes,"  said  I,  "  that  is  all  very  well, — but  the 
English  and  Prussians, — you  do  not  think  of  that." 

"  I  despise  them,"  said  he,  "  my  sabre  cuts  like  a 
butcher's  knife,  and  my  bayonet  is  sharp  as  a  needle. 
It  is  they  who  should  be  afraid  to  encounter  me." 

"We  were  the  best  friends  in  the  world,  and  I  liked 
him  almost  as  well  as  my  old  comrades  Klipfel, 


i88  WATERLOO 

Furst,  and  Zebede.  And  he  liked  me  too.  I  believe 
he  would  have  let  himself  be  cut  to  pieces  to  save  me 
from  danger.  Old  comrades  and  bed-fellows  never 
forget  each  other.  In  my  time,  old  Harwig  whom 
I  knew  in  Pfalzbourg,  always  received  a  pension 
from  his  old  comrade  Bernadotte,  King  of  Sweden. 
If  I  had  been  a  king,  Jean  Buche  should  have  had  a 
pension,  for  if  he  had  not  a  great  mind  he  had  a  good 
heart,  which  is  better  still. 

While  we  were  talking,  Zebede  came  and  tapped 
me  on  the  shoulder. 

"  You  do  not  smoke,  Joseph?  " 

"  I  have  no  tobacco." 

Then  he  gave  me  half  of  a  package  which  he  had 
and  I  saw  that  he  loved  me  still,  in  spite  of  the  dif- 
ference in  our  rank,  and  that  touched  me.  He  was 
beside  himself  with  delight  at  the  thought  of  attack- 
ing the  Prussians. 

"  "We'll  be  revenged!  "  he  cried.  "  No  quarter! 
they  shall  pay  for  all,  from  Katzbach  even  to  Sois- 
sons." 

You  would  have  thought  that  those  English  and 
Prussians  were  not  going  to  defend  themselves,  and 
that  we  ran  no  risk  of  catching  bullets  and  canister 
as  at  Lutzen  and  at  Gross-Beren,  at  Leipzig  and  ev- 
erywhere else.  But  what  could  you  say  to  a  man 
who  remembered  nothing  and  who  always  looked 
on  the  bright  side? 


WATERLOO  189 

•  I  smoked  my  pipe  quietly  and  replied,  "  Yes  ! 
yes  !  we'll  settle  the  rascals,  we'll  push  them  ! 
They'll  see  enough  of  us!  " 

I  left  Jean  Buche  with  his  pipe,  and  as  we  were 
on  guard,  Zebede  went  about  nine  o'clock  to  relieve 
the  sentinels  at  the  head  of  the  picket.  I  stepped 
a  little  out  of  the  circle  and  stretched  myself  in  a.  fur- 
row a  few  steps  in  the  rear  with  my  knapsack  under 
my  head.  The  weather  was  warm,  and  we  heard 
the  crickets  long  after  the  sun  went  down.  A  few 
stars  shone  in  the  heavens.  There  was  not  a  breath 
of  air  stirring  over  the  plain,  the  ears  of  grain  stood 
erect  and  motionless,  and  in  the  distance  the  village 
clocks  struck  nine,  ten,  and  eleven,  but  at  last  I 
dropped  asleep.  This  was  the  night  of  the  14th  and 
15th  of  June,  1815.  Between  two  and  three  in  the 
morning  Zebede  came  and  shook  me.  "  Up  !  " 
said  he,  "  come !  "  Buche  had  stretched  himself 
beside  me  also,  and  we  rose  at  once.  It  was  our  turn 
to  relieve  the  guard.  It  was  still  dark,  but  there 
was  a  line  of  light  along  the  horizon  at  the  edge  of 
the  grain  fields.  Thirty  paces  farther  on,  Lieuten- 
ant Bretonville  was  waiting  for  us,  surrounded  by 
the  picket.  It  is  hard  to  get  up  out  of  a  sound  sleep 
after  a  march  of  ten  hours.  But  we  buckled  on 
our  knapsacks  as  we  went,  and  I  relieved  the  sentinel 
behind  the  hedge  opposite  Eoly.  The  countersign 
was  "  Jemmapes  and  Fleurus,"  this  struck  me  at 


I9o  WATERLOO 

once,  I  had  not  heard  this  countersign  since  1813. 
How  memory  sleeps  sometimes  for  years!  I  seem 
to  see  the  picket  now  as  they  turn  into  the  road, 
while  I  renew  the  priming  of  my  gun  by  the  light  of 
the  stars,  and  I  hear  the  other  sentinels  marching 
slowly  back  and  forth,  while  the  footsteps  of  the 
picket  grew  faint  and  fainter  in  the  distance.  I 
marched  up  and  down  the  hedge  with  my  gun  on  my 
arm.  There  was  nothing  to  be  seen  but  the  village 
with  its  thatched  roofs  and  the  slated  church  spire  a 
little  farther  on;  and  a  mounted  sentinel  stationed 
in  the  road  with  his  blunderbuss  resting  on  his  thigh 
looking  out  into  the  night.  I  walked  up  and  down 
thinking  and  listening.  Everything  slept.  The 
white  line  along  the  horizon  grew  broader.  An- 
other half  hour  and  the  distant  country  began  to  ap- 
pear in  the  gray  light  of  morning.  Two  or  three 
quails  called  and  answered  each  other  across  the 
plain.  As  I  heard  these  sounds  I  stopped  and 
thought  sadly  of  Quatre  Vents,  Danne,  the  Bara- 
ques-du-bois-de-chenes,  and  of  our  grain  fields, 
where  the  quails  were  calling  from  the  edge  of  the 
forest  of  Bonne  Fontaine.  "  Is  Catherine  asleep? 
and  Aunt  Gredel  and  Father  Goulden  and  all  the 
town?  The  national  guard  from  Nancy  has  taken 
our  place."  I  saw  the  sentinels  of  the  two  maga- 
zines and  the  guard  at  the  two  gates;  in  short, 
thoughts  without  number  came  and  went,  when  I 


A  MOUNTED  HUSSAR  WNS  LOOKING  OUT  INTO  THE  NIGHT. 


WATERLOO 


191 


heard  a  horse  galloping  in  the  distance,  but  I  could 
see  nothing. 

In  a  few  minutes  he  entered  the  village,  and  all 
was  still  except  a  sort  of  confused  tumult.  In  an 
instant  after,  the  horseman  came  from  Roly  into  our 
road  at  full  gallop.  I  advanced  to  the  edge  of  the 
hedge  and  presented  my  musket,  and  cried,  "  Who 
goes  there?"  "France!"  "What  regiment?" 
"Twelfth  chasseurs!  Staff."  "Pass  on!"  He 
went  on  his  way  faster  than  before.  I  heard  him 
stop  in  the  midst  of  our  encampment,  and  call 
"  Commandant."  I  advanced  to  the  top  of  the  hill 
to  see  what  was  going  on.  There  was  a  great  excite- 
ment; the  officers  came  running  up,  and  the  sol- 
diers gathered  round.  The  chasseur  was  speaking 
to  Gemeau,  I  listened,  but  was  too  far  away  to  hear. 
The  courier  went  on  again  up  the  hill,  and  every- 
thing was  in  an  uproar.  They  shouted  and  gesticu- 
lated. Suddenly  the  drums  beat  to  mount  guard, 
and  the  relief  turned  a  corner  in  the  road.  I  saw 
Zebede  in  the  distance  looking  pale  as  death ;  as  he 
passed  me  he  said,  "  Come !  "  the  two  other  senti- 
nels were  in  their  places  a  little  to  the  left.  Talk- 
ing is  not  allowed  when  under  arms,  but,  notwith- 
standing, Zebede  said,  "  Joseph,  we  are  betrayed. 
Bourmont,  general  of  the  division  in  advance,  and 
five  other  brigands  of  the  same  sort,  have  just  gone 

. 

over  to  the  enemy."     His  voice  trembled. 


192 


WATERLOO 


My  blood  boiled,  and  looking  at  the  other  men  on 
the  picket,  two  old  soldiers  with  chevrons,  I  saw 
their  lips  quiver  under  their  gray  mustaches,  their 
eyes  rolled  fiercely  as  if  they  were  meditating  ven- 
geance, but  they  said  nothing.  "We  hurried  on  to 
relieve  the  other  two  sentinels.  Some  minutes  af- 
terward, on  returning  to  our  bivouac,  we  found  the 
battalion  already  under  arms  and  ready  to  move. 
Fury  and  indignation  were  stamped  on  every  face, 
the  drums  beat  and  we  formed  ranks,  the  command- 
ant and  the  adjutant  waited  on  horseback  at  the  head 
of  the  battalion,  pale  as  ashes. 

I  remember  that  the  commandant  suddenly  drew 
his  sword  as  a  signal  to  stop  the  drums,  and  tried  to 
speak,  but  the  words  would  not  come,  and  he  began 
to  shout  like  a  madman :  "Ah!  the  wretches!  mis- 
erable villains !  Yive  1'Empereur !  ~No  quarter!  " 
He  stammered  and  did  not  know  what  he  said,  but 
the  battalion  thought  he  was  eloquent,  and  began  to 
shout  as  one  man,  "  Forward !  forward !  to  the  en- 
emy !  no  quarter !  "  We  went  through  the  village 
at  quick  step,  and  the  meanest  soldier  was  furious  at 
not  finding  the  Prussians. 

It  was  an  hour  after,  when  having  reflected  a  lit- 
tle, the  men  commenced  swearing  and  threatening, 
secretly  at  first,  but  soon  openly,  and  at  last  the  bat- 
talion was  almost  in  revolt.  Some  said  that  all  the 
officers  under  Louis  XVIII.  must  be  exterminated, 


WATERLOO 


193 


and  others,  that  we  were  given  up  en  masse,  and  sev- 
eral declared  that  the  marshals  were  traitors,  and 
ought  to  be  court-martialed  and  shot. 

At  last  the  commandant  ordered  a  halt,  and  rid- 
ing down  the  line  he  told  the  men,  that  the  traitors 
had  left  too  late  to  do  mischief,  that  we  would  make 
the  attack  that  very  day,  and  that  the  enemy  would 
not  have  time  to  profit  by  the  treason,  and  that  he 
would  be  surprised  and  overwhelmed.  This  calmed 
the  fury  of  a  great  proportion  of  the  men,  and  we  re- 
sumed our  march,  and  all  along  the  route,  we  heard 
repeatedly  that  the  exposure  of  our  plans  had  been 
made  too  late. 

But  our  anger  gave  place  to  joy,  when  about  ten 
o'clock  we  heard  the  thunder  of  cannon  five  or  six 
leagues  to  the  left,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Sambre. 
The  men  raised  their  shakos  on  their  bayonets  and 
shouted:  "Forward!  Vive  1'Empereur!  " 

Many  of  the  old  soldiers  wept,  and  ever  all  that 
great  plain  there  was  one  immense  shout;  when 
one  regiment  had  ceased  another  took  it  up.  The 
cannon  thundered  incessantly.  "We  quickened  our 
steps.  We  had  been  marching  on  Charleroi  since 
seven  o'clock,  when  an  order  reached  us  by  an  or- 
derly to  support  the  right.  I  remember  that  in  all 
the  villages  through  which  we  passed,  the  doors  and 
windows  were  full  of  eager  friendly  faces,  waving 
their  hands  and  shouting,  "  The  French,  the 
13 


194 


WATERLOO 


French !  "  "We  could  see  that  they  were  friendly  to 
us,  and  that  they  were  of  the  same  blood  as  our- 
selves; and  in  the  two  halts  that  we  made,  they 
came  out  with  their  loaves  of  excellent  home-made 
bread,  with  a  knife  stuck  in  the  crust,  and  great  jugs 
of  black  beer,  and  offered  them  to  us  without  asking 
any  return.  We  had  come  to  deliver  them  without 
knowing  it,  and  nobody  in  their  country  knew  it 
either,  which  shows  the  sagacity  of  the  Emperor, 
for  there  were  already  in  that  corner  of  the  Sambre 
et  Meuse,  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  men, 
and  not  the  slightest  hint  of  it  had  reached  the  en- 
emy. 

The  treason  of  Bourmont  had  prevented  our  sur- 
prising them  as  they  were  scattered  about  in  their 
separate  camps.  "VVe  could  then  have  annihilated 
them  at  a  blow,  but  now  it  would  be  much  more  dif- 
ficult. 

We  continued  our  march  till  after  noon,  in  the 
intense  heat  and  choking  dust.  The  farther  we  ad- 
vanced the  greater  the  number  of  troops  we  saw,  in- 
fantry and  cavalry.  They  massed  themselves  more 
and  more,  so  to  speak,  and  behind  us  there  were  still 
other  regiments. 

Toward  five  o'clock  we  reached  a  village  where 
the  battalions  and  squadrons  filed  over  a  bridge  built 
of  brick.  This  village  had  been  taken  by  our  van- 
guard, and  in  going  through  it,  we  saw  some  of  the 


WATERLOO 


195 


Prussians  stretched  out  in  the  little  streets  on  the 
right  and  left,  and  I  said  to  Jean  Buche:  "  Those 
are  Prussians,  I  saw  them  at  Lutzen  and  Leipzig, 
and  you  are  going  to  see  them  too,  Jean." 

"  So  much  the  better,"  he  replied,  "  that  is  what 
I  want." 

This  village  was  called  Chatelet.  It  is  on  the 
river  Sambre,  the  water  is  very  deep,  yellow,  and 
clayey,  and  those  who  are  so  unfortunate  as  to  fall 
into  it,  find  it  very  difficult  to  get  out  of,  for  the 
banks  are  perpendicular,  as  we  found  out  afterward. 
On  the  other  side  of  the  bridge  we  bivouacked  along 
the  river;  we  were  not  in  the  advance,  as  the  hus- 
sars had  passed  over  before  us,  but  we  were  the  first 
infantry  of  the  corps  of  Gerard.  All  the  rest  of 
that  day  the  Fourth  corps  were  filing  over  the 
bridge,  and  we  learned  at  night,  that  the  whole  army 
had  passed  the  Sambre,  and  that  there  had  been 
fighting  near  Charleroi,  at  Marchiennes,  and  Jumet. 


xvn 

ON  reaching  the  other  bank  of  the  river,  we 
stacked  our  arms  in  an  orchard,  and  lighted  our 
pipes  and  took  breath  as  we  watched  the  hussars,  the 
chasseurs,  the  artillery,  and  the  infantry,  file  over 
the  bridge  hour  after  hour,  and  take  their  positions 
on  the  plain.  In  our  front  was  a  beech  forest,  about 
three  leagues  in  length,'  which  extended  toward 
Fleurus.  We  could  see  great  yellow  spots,  here  and 
there  in  this  wood;  these  were  stubble,  and  great 
patches  of  grain,  instead  of  being  covered  with 
bramble  or  heath  and  furze  as  in  our  country.  About 
twenty  old  decrepit  houses  were  on  that  side  the 
bridge.  Chatelet  is  a  very  large  village,  larger  than 
the  city  of  Saverne. 

Between  the  battalions  and  squadrons,  which 
were  constantly  moving  onward,  the  men,  women, 
and  children  would  come  out  with  jugs  of  sour  beer, 
bread,  and  strong  white  brandy  which  they  sold  to 
the  soldiers  for  a  few  sous.  Buche  and  I  broke  a 
crust  as  we  looked  on  and  laughed  with  the  girls, 
who  are  blonde  and  very  pretty  in  that  country. 

Very  near  us  was  the  little  village  Catelineau,  and 
196 


WATERLOO  197 

in  the  distance  on  our  left,  between  the  wood  and  the 
river,  lay  the  village  of  Gilly.  The  sound  of  mus- 
ketry, cannon,  and  platoon  firing,  was  heard  con- 
stantly in  that  direction.  The  news  soon  came  that 
the  Emperor  had  driven  the  Prussians  out  of  Char- 
leroi,  and  that  they  had  re-formed  in  squares  at  the 
corner  of  the  wood. 

We  expected  every  moment  to  be  ordered  to  cut 
off  their  retreat,  but  between  seven  and  eight 
o'clock,  the  sound  of  musketry  ceased,  the  Prussians 
retired  to  Eleurus,  after  having  lost  one  of  their 
squares;  and  the  others  escaped  into  the  wood.  We 
saw  two  regiments  of  dragoons  arrive  and  take  up 
their  position  at  our  right,  along  the  bank  of  the 
Sambre.  There  was  a  rumor  a  few  minutes  after- 
ward that  General  Le  Tort  had  been  killed  by  a  ball 
in  the  abdomen,  very  near  the  place  where  in  his 
youth  he  had  watched  and  tended  the  cattle  of  a 
farmer.  What  strange  things  happen  in  life !  The 
general  had  fought  all  over  Europe,  since  he  was 
twenty  years  old,  but  death  waited  for  him  here ! 

It  was  about  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  we 
were  expecting  to  remain  at  Chatelet  until  our  three 
divisions  had  crossed.  An  old  bald  peasant,  in  a 
blue  blouse  and  a  cotton  cap  and  as  lean  as  a  goat, 
came  into  camp  and  told  Captain  Gregoire  that  on 
the  side  of  the  beech  wood  in  a  hollow,  lay  the  vil- 
lage of  Fleurus,  and  to  the  right  of  this,  the  little 


198  WATERLOO 

village  of  Lambusart;  that  the  Prussians  had  been 
stationed  in  these  towns  more  than  three  weeks,  and 
that  more  of  them  had  arrived  the  night  before,  and 
the  night  before  that.  He  told  us  also  that  there 
was  a  broad  road,  bordered  with  trees,  running  two 
good  leagues  along  our  left;  that  the  Belgians  and 
Hanoverians  had  posts  at  Gosselies  and  at  Quatre- 
Bras;  that  it  was  the  high-road  to  Brussels,  where 
the  English  and  Hanoverians  and  Belgians  had  all 
their  forces;  while  the  Prussians,  four  or  five 
leagues  at  our  right,  occupied  the  route  to  Namur, 
and  that  between  them  and  the  English,  there  was  a 
good  road  running  from  the  plateau  of  Quatre-Bras 
to  the  plateau  of  Ligny  in  the  rear  of  Fleurus,  over 
which  their  couriers  went  and  came  from  morning 
till  night,  so  that  the  Prussians  and  English  were  in 
perfect  communication,  and  could  support  each 
other  with  men,  guns,  and  supplies  when  neces- 
sary. 

Naturally  enough  I  thought  at  once,  that  the  first 
thing  to  be  done  was  to  get  possession  of  this  road 
and  so  cut  off  their  communication;  and  I  was  not 
the  only  one  who  thought  so;  but  we  said  nothing 
for  fear  of  interrupting  the  old  man.  In  five  min- 
utes half  the  battalion  had  gathered  round  him  in  a 
circle.  He  was  smoking  a  clay  pipe  and  pointing 
out  all  the  positions  with  the  stem.  He  was  a  sort 
of  commissioner  between  Chatelet,  Fleurus,  and 


WATERLOO 


199 


Namur  and  knew  every  foot  of  the  country  and  all 
that  happened  every  day. 

He  complained  greatly  of  the  Prussians,  said  they 
were  proud  and  insolent,  that  they  corrupted  the 
women  and  were  never  satisfied,  and  that  the  officers 
boasted  of  having  driven  us  from  Dresden  to  Paris, 
that  they  had  made  us  run  like  hares. 

I  was  indignant  at  that,  for  I  knew  they  were  two 
to  one  at  Leipzig,  and  that  the  Eussians,  Austrians, 
Saxons,  Bavarians,  Wurtemburgers,  Swedes,  in  fact 
all  Europe  had  overwhelmed  us,  while  three-quar- 
ters of  our  army  were  sick  with  typhus,  cold,  and 
famine,  marching  and  countermarching;  but  that 
even  all  this  had  not  prevented  us  from  beating  them 
at  Hanau,  and  fifty  other  times  when  they  were 
three  to  one,  in  Champagne,  Alsace,  in  the  Vosges, 
and  everywhere. 

Their  boasting  disgusted  me,  I  had  a  horror  of  th'e 
whole  race,  and  I  thought,  "  those  are  the  rascals 
who  sour  your  blood."  The  old  man  said  too,  that 
the  Prussians  constantly  declared  that  they  would 
soon  be  enjoying  themselves  in  Paris,  drinking  good 
French  wines;  and  that  the  French  army  was  only 
a  band  of  brigands.  When  I  heard  that,  I  said  to 
myself,  "  Joseph,  that  is  too  much!  now  you  will 
show  no  more  mercy,  there  is  nothing  but  extermina- 
tion." 

The  clocks  of  Chatelet  struck  nine  and  a  half,  and 


200  WATERLOO 

the  hussars  sounded  the  retreat,  and  each  one  was 
about  to  dispose  himself  behind  a  hedge  or  a  bee- 
house  or  in  a  furrow  for  the  night,  when  the  general 
of  the  brigade,  Schoefier,  ordered  the  battalion  to 
take  up  their  position  on  the  other  side  of  the  wood, 
as  the  vanguard.  I  saw  at  once  that  our  unlucky 
battalion  was  always  to  be  in  the  van,  just  as  it  was 
in  1813. 

It  is  a  sad  thing  for  a  regiment  to  have  a  reputa- 
tion ;  the  men  change,  but  the  number  remains  the 
same.  The  Sixth  light  infantry  had  always  been  a 
distinguished  number,  and  I  knew  what  it  cost. 
Those  of  us  who  were  inclined  to  sleep,  were  wide 
awake  now,  for  when  you  know  that  the  enemy  is  at 
hand,  and  you  say  to  yourself,  "  The  Prussians  are 
in  ambush,  perhaps  in  that  wood,  waiting  for  you," 
it  makes  you  open  your  eyes. 

Several  hussars  deployed  as  scouts  on  our  right 
and  left,  in  front  of  the  column.  We  marched  at 
the  route  step,  with  the  captains  between  the  com- 
panies, and  the  Commandant  Gemeau,  on  his  little 
gray  mare,  in  the  middle  of  the  battalion.  Before 
starting  each  man  had  received  three  pounds  of 
bread  and  two  pounds  of  rice,  and  this  was  the  way 
in  which  the  campaign  opened  for  us. 

The  sky  was  without  a  cloud,  and  all  the  country 
and  even  the  forest,  which  lay  three-quarters  of  a 
league  before  us,  shone  in  the  moonlight  like  silver. 


WATERLOO  201 

I  thought  involuntarily  of  the  wood  at  Leipzig,  where 
I  had  slipped  into  a  clay-pit  with  two  Prussian  hus- 
sars, when  poor  Klipfel  was  cut  into  a  thousand 
pieces  at  a  little  distance  from  me.  All  this  made 
me  very  watchful.  No  one  spoke,  even  BucLe 
raised  his  head  and  shut  his  teeth,  and  Zebede,  who 
was  at  the  left  of  the  company,  did  not  look  toward 
me,  but  right  ahead  into  the  shadow  of  the  trees, 
like  everybody  else. 

It  took  us  nearly  an  hour  to  reach  the  forest,  and 
when  within  two  hundred  paces  the  order  came  to 
"  halt." 

The  hussars  fell  back  on  the  flanks  of  the  bat- 
talion, and  one  company  deployed  as  scouts.  We 
waited  about  five  minutes,  and  as  not  the  slightest 
noise  or  sound  of  any  kind  reached  our  ears,  we  re- 
sumed our  march.  The  road  which  we  followed 
through  the  wood  was  quite  a  wide  cart-path.  The 
column  marked  step  in  the  shadows.  At  every  mo- 
ment great  openings  in  the  forest  gave  us  light  and 
air,  and  we  could  see  the  white  piles  of  newly  cut 
wood  between  their  stakes,  shining  in  the  distance 
from  time  to  time. 

Besides  this,  nothing  could  be  heard  or  seen. 
Buche  said  to  me  in  a  low  voice,  "  I  like  the  smell 
of  the  wood,  it  is  like  Harberg." 

"  I  despise  the  smell  of  the  wood,"  I  thought  ; 
"  and  if  we  do  not  get  a  musket-shot,  I  shall  be  satis- 
fied." 


202  WATERLOO 

At  the  end  of  two  hours  the  light  appeared  again 
through  the  underwood,  and  we  reached  the  other 
side,  fortunately  without  encountering  either  enemy 
or  obstacle.  The  hussars  who  had  accompanied  us 
returned  immediately,  and  the  battalion  stacked 
arms. 

We  were  in  a  grain  country,  the  like  of  which  I 
had  never  seen.  Some  of  the  grain  was  in  flower,  a, 
little  green  still,  though  the  barley  was  almost  ripe. 
The  fields  extended  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach. 
We  looked  around  in  perfect  silence,  and  I  saw  that 
the  old  man  had  not  deceived  us.  Two  thousand 
paces  in  front  of  us,  in  a  hollow,  we  saw  the  top  of 
an  old  church  spire  and  some  slated  gables,  lighted 
up  by  the  moon.  That  was  Fleurus.  Nearer  to  us 
on  our  right  were  some  thatched  cottages,  and  a  few 
houses;  this  was  without  doubt  Lambusart.  At  the 
end  of  the  plain,  more  than  a  league  distant  and  in 
the  rear  of  Fleurus,  the  surface  of  the  country  was 
broken  into  little  hills,  and  on  these  hills  innumer- 
able fires  were  burning.  Three  large  villages  were 
easily  recognized  extending  over  the  heights  from 
left  to  right.  The  one  nearest  to  us,  we  afterward 
found,  was  St.  Amand,  Ligny  in  the  middle,  and 
two  leagues  beyond,  was  Sombref.  We  could  see 
them  more  distinctly,  even,  than  in  the  day-time,  on 
account  of  the  fires  of  the  enemy.  The  Prussians 
were  in  the  houses  and  the  orchards  and  the  fields; 


WATERLOO 


203 


and  beyond  these  three  villages  in  a  line,  was  an- 
other, lying  still  higher  and  farther  away,  where 
fires  were  burning  also.  This  was  Bry,  where  the 
rascals  had  their  reserves. 

As  we  looked  at  this  grand  spectacle,  I  understood 
the  disposition  and  the  plan,  and  saw  too  that  it 
would  be  very  difficult  to  take  the  position.  On  the 
plain  at  our  left  there  were  fires  also,  but  it  was  the 
camp  of  the  Third  corps,  which  had  turned  the  cor- 
ner of  the  forest  after  having  repulsed  the  Prussians, 
and  had  halted  in  some  village  this  side  of  Fleurus. 
There  were  a  few  fires  along  the  edge  of  the  forest, 
on  a  line  with  us;  these  were  the  fires  of  our  own 
soldiers.  I  believe  there  were  some  on  both  sides  of 
us,  but  the  great  mass  were  at  the  left. 

We  posted  our  sentinels  immediately,  and  with- 
out lighting  our  fires  laid  down  at  the  border  of  the 
wood  to  wait  for  further  orders.  General  Schoeffer 
came  again  during  the  night  with  several  hussar 
officers,  and  talked  a  long  time  with  our  command- 
ant, Gemeau,  who  was  watching  under  arms.  Their 
conversation  was  quite  distinct  at  twenty  paces  from 
us.  The  general  said  that  our  army  corps  continued 
to  arrive,  but  that  they  were  very  late,  and  would 
not  all  reach  here  the  next  day.  I  saw  at  once  that 
he  was  right;  for  our  fourth  battalion,  which  should 
have  joined  us  at  Chatelet,  did  not  come  till  the  day 
after  the  battle,  when  we  were  almost  exterminated 


204  WATERLOO 

by  those  rascals  at  Ligny,  having  only  four  hundred 
men  left.  If  they  had  been  there  they  would  have 
had  their  share  of  the  combat  and  of  the  glory. 

As  I  had  been  on  guard  the  night  before,  I  quietly 
stretched  myself  at  the  foot  of  a  tree  by  the  side  of 
Buche,  with  my  comrades.  It  was  about  one  o'clock 
in  the  morning  of  the  day  of  the  terrible  battle  of 
Ligny.  Nearly  half  of  those  men  who  were  sleep- 
ing around  me  left  their  bodies  on  the  plain  and  in 
the  villages  which  we  saw,  to  be  food  for  the  grain, 
such  as  was  growing  so  beautifully  around  us,  for 
the  oats  and  the  barley  for  ages  to  come.  If  they 
had  known  that,  there  was  more  than  one  of  them 
who  would  not  have  slept  so  well,  for  men  cling  to 
life,  and  it  is  a  sad  thing  to  think,  "  to-day  I  draw 
my  last  breath! " 


XVIII 

DURING  the  night  the  air  was  heavy,  and  I  wak- 
ened every  hour  in  spite  of  my  great  fatigue,  but 
my  comrades  slept  on,  some  talking  in  their  sleep. 
Buche  did  not  stir. 

Close  at  hand,  on  the  edge  of  the  forest,  our 
stacked  muskets  sparkled  in  the  moonlight.  In  the 
distance  on  the  left  I  could  hear  the  "  Qui  vive,"* 
and  on  our  front  the  "  Wer  da."f  Nearer  to  us, 
our  sentinels  stood  motionless,  up  to  their  waists  in 
the  standing  grain. 

I  rose  up  softly  and  looked  about  me.  In  the  vi- 
cinity of  Sombref,  two  leagues  to  our  right,  I  could 
"hear  a  great  tumult  from  time  to  time,  which  would 
increase  and  then  cease  entirely.  It  might  have 
been  little  gusts  of  wind  among  the  leaves,  but  there 
was  not  a  breath  of  air  and  not  a  drop  of  dew  fell, 
and  I  thought,  "  Those  are  the  cannon  and  wagons 
of  the  Prussians,  galloping  over  the  Namur  road; 
their  battalions  and  squadrons,  which  are  coming 
continually.  What  a  position  we  shall  be  in  to-mor- 
row with  that  mass  of  men  already  before  us,  and 
re-enforcements  arriving  every  moment." 

*  Who  goes  there ! — French.  f  Who  goes  there !  — German. 

205 


zo6  WATERLOO 

They  had  extinguished  their  fires  at  St.  Amand 
and  at  Ligny,  but  they  burned  brighter  than  ever  at 
Sonabref.  The  Prussians  who  had  just  arrived  af- 
ter forced  marches  were  no  doubt  making  their 
soup. 

A  thousand  thoughts  ran  through  my  brain,  and  I 
said  to  myself  from  time  to  time,  "  You  escaped 
from  Lutzen  and  Leipzig  and  Hanau,  why  not  es- 
cape this  time  also? " 

But  the  hopes  which  I  cherished  did  not  prevent 
me  from  realizing  that  the  battle  would  be  a  ter- 
rible one.  I  lay  down,  however,  and  slept  soundly 
for  half  an  hour,  when  the  drum-major,  Padoue 
himself,  commenced  to  beat  the  reveille.  He 
promenaded  up  and  down  the  edge  of  the  wood  and 
turned  off  his  rolls  and  double  rolls  with  great  satis- 
faction. The  officers  were  standing  in  the  grain  on 
the  hill-side  in  a  group,  looking  toward  Fleurus,  and 
talking  among  themselves.  Our  reveille  always 
commenced  before  that  of  the  Austrians  or  Prus- 
sians or  any  of  our  enemies.  It  is  like  the  song  of 
the  lark  at  dawn.  They  commence  theirs  on  their 
big  drums  with  a  dismal  roll  which  gives  you  the 
idea  of  a  funeral.  But,  on  the  contrary,  their  bu- 
glers have  pretty  airs  for  sounding  the  reveille,  while 
ours  only  give  two  or  three  blasts,  as  much  as  to  say: 
"  Come,  let  us  be  going !  there  is  no  time  to  lose." 
Everybody  rose  and  the  sun  came  up  splendidly  over 


WATERLOO 


207 


the  grain  fields,  and  we  could  feel  beforehand  how 
hot  it  would  be  at  noon. 

Buche  and  all  the  detailed  men  set  off  with  their 
canteens  for  water,  while  others  were  lighting  hand- 
f uls  of  straw  with  tinder  for  their  fires.  There  was 
no  lack  of  wood,  as  each  one  took  an  armful  from  the 
piles  that  were  already  cut.  Corporal  Duhem  and 
Sergeant  Rabot  and  Zebede  came  to  have  a  talk  with 
me.  We  were  together  in  1813,  and  they  had  been 
at  my  wedding,  and  in  spite  of  the  difference  in  our 
rank  they  had  always  continued  their  friendship  for 
me. 

"  Well !  Joseph,"  said  Zebede,  "  the  dance  is  go- 
ing to  commence." 

"  Yes,"  I  replied,  and  recalling  the  words  of  poor 
Sergeant  Pinto  the  morning  before  Lutzen,  I  added 
with  a  wink,  "  this,  Zebede,  will  be  a  battle,  as  Ser- 
geant Pinto  said,  where  you  will  gain  the  cross  be- 
tween the  thrusts  of  ramrod  and  bayonet,  and  if  you 
do  not  have  a  chance  now  you  need  never  expect  it." 

They  all  began  to  laugh,  and  Zebede  said: 

"  Yes,  indeed,  the  poor  old  fellow  richly  deserved 
it,  but  it  is  harder  to  catch  than  the  bouquet  at  the 
top  of  a  climbing  pole." 

We  all  laughed,  and  as  they  had  a  flash  of  brandy, 
we  took  a  crust  of  bread  together  as  we  watched  the 
movements  of  the  enemy  which  began  to  be  per- 
ceptible. Buche  had  returned  among  the  first  with 


zo8  WATERLOO 

his  canteen  and  now  stood  behind  us  with  his  ears 
wide  open  like  a  fox  on  the  alert. 

Files  of  cavalry  came  out  of  the  woods  and 
crossed  the  grain  fields  in  the  direction  of  St. 
Amand,  the  large  village  at  the  left  of  Fleurus. 

"  Those/'  said  Zebede,  "  are  the  light  horse  of  Pa- 
jol  who  will  deploy  as  scouts.    These  are  Exelman's 
dragoons.     When  the  others  have  ascertained  the 
positions  they  will  advance  in  line,  that  is  the  way 
they  always  do,  and  the  cannon  will  come  with  the 
infantry.    The  cavalry  will  form  on  the  right  or  the 
left  and  support  the  flanks,  and  the  infantry  will 
take  the  front  rank.    They  will  form  their  attack- 
ing columns  on  the  good  roads  and  in  the  fields,  and 
the  affair  will  begin  with  a  cannonade  for  twenty 
minutes  or  half  an  hour,  more  or  less,  and  when 
half  the  batteries  are  disabled,  the  Emperor  will 
choose  a  favorable  moment  to  put  us  in,  but  it  is  we 
who  will  catch  the  bullets  and  canister  because  we 
are  nearest.    We  advance,  carry  arms,  in  readiness 
for  a  charge,  at  a  quick  step  and  in  good  order,  but 
it  always  ends  in  a  double  quick,  because  the  shot 
makes  you  impatient.    I  warn  you,  conscripts,  be- 
forehand, so  that  you  may  not  be  surprised."    More 
than  twenty  conscripts  had  ranged  themselves  be- 
hind us  to  listen.     The  cavalry  continued  to  pour 
out  of  the  wood. 

"  I  will  bet."  said  Corporal  Duhem,  "  that  the 


WATERLOO 


209 


Fourth  cavalry  has  been  on  the  march  in  our  rear 
since  daybreak." 

And  Eabot  said  they  would  have  to  take  time  to 
get  into  line,  as  it  was  so  bad  traversing  the  wood. 
We  were  discussing  the  matter  like  generals,  and 
we  scanned  the  position  of  the  Prussians  around  the 
villages,  in  the  orchards,  and  behind  .the  hedges, 
which  are  six  feet  high  in  that  country.  A  great 
number  of  their  guns  were  grouped  in  batteries  be- 
tween Ligny  and  St.  Amand,  and  we  could  plainly 
see  the  bronze  shining  in  the  sun,  which  inspired  all 
sorts  of  reflections. 

"  I  am  sure,"  said  Zebede,  "  that  they  are  all 
barricaded,  and  they  have  dug  ditches  and  pierced 
the  walls;  we  should  have  done  well  to  push  on 
yesterday,  when  their  squares  retreated  to  the  first 
village  on  the  heights.  If  we  were  on  a  level  with 
them  it  would  be  very  well,  but  to  climb  up  across 
those  hedges  under  the  enemy's  fire  will  cost  a  trifle, 
unless  something  should  happen  in  the  rear  as  is 
sometimes  the  case  with  the  Emperor." 

The  old  soldiers  were  talking  in  this  fashion  on  all 
sides,  and  the  conscripts  were  listening  with  open, 
ears. 

Meanwhile  the  camp-kettles  were  suspended  over 

the  fire,  but  they  were  expressly  forbidden  to  use 

their  bayonets  for  this  purpose  as  it  destroyed  their 

temper.     It  was  about  seven  o'clock,  and  we  all 

14 


210  WATERLOO 

thought  that  the  battle  would  be  at  St.  Amand. 
The  village  was  surrounded  by  hedges  and  shrub- 
bery, with  a  great  tower  in  the  centre,  and  higher 
up  in  the  rear  there  were  more  houses  and  a  winding 
road  bordered  with  a  stone  wall.  All  the  officers 
said :  "  That  is  where  the  struggle  will  be."  As 
our  troops  came  from  Charleroi  they  spread  over 
the  plain  below  us,  infantry  and  cavalry  side  by 
side;  all  the  corps  of  Vandamme  and  Gerard's  di- 
vision. Thousands  and  thousands  of  helmets  glit- 
tered in  the  sun,  and  Buche  who  stood  beside  me, 
exclaimed : 

"  Oh !  oh !  oh !  look,  Joseph,  look !  they  come 
continually!  " 

And  we  could  see  innumerable  bayonets  in  the 
same  direction  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach. 

The  Prussians  were  spreading  more  and  more 
over  the  hill-side  near  the  windmills.  This  move- 
ment continued  till  eight  o'clock.  Nobody  was 
hungry,  but  we  ate  all  the  same,  so  as  not  to  re- 
proach ourselves;  for  the  battle,  once  begun,  might 
last  two  days  without  giving  us  a  chance  to  eat 
again. 

Between  eight  and  nine  o'clock  the  first  battalions 
of  our  division  left  the  wood.  The  officers  came  to 
shake  hands  with  their  comrades,  but  the  staff  re- 
mained in  the  rear.  Suddenly  the  hussars  and  chas- 
seurs passed  us,  extending  our  line  of  battle  toward 


WATERLOO  211 

the  right.  They  were  Morin's  cavalry.  Our  idea 
was  that  when  the  Prussians  should  have  become 
engaged  in  the  attack  on  St.  Amand,  we  would  fall 
on  their  flank  at  Ligny.  But  the  Prussians  were  on 
their  guard,  and  from  that  moment  they  stopped 
at  Ligny,  instead  of  going  on  to  St.  Amand.  They 
even  came  lower  down,  and  we  could  see  the  officers 
posting  the  men  among  the  hedges  and  in  the  gar- 
dens and  behind  the  low  walls  and  barracks.  We 
thought  their  position  very  strong.  They  continued 
to  come  lower  down  in  a  sort  of  fold  of  the  hill-side 
between  Ligny  and  Fleurus,  and  that  astonished  us, 
for  we  did  not  yet  know  that  a  little  brook  divided 
the  village  into  two  parts,  and  that  they  were  filling 
the  houses  on  our  side,  and  we  did  not  know  that 
if  they  were  repulsed  they  could  retreat  up  the  hill 
and  still  hold  us  always  under  their  fire. 

If  we  knew  everything  about  such  affairs  before- 
hand, we  should  never  dare  to  commence  such  a  dan- 
gerous enterprise,  but  the  difficulties  are  discovered 
step  by  step.  We  were  destined  that  day  to  find  a 
great  many  things  which  we  did  not  expect. 

About  half -past  eight  several  of  our  regiments 
had  left  the  wood,  and  very  soon  the  drums  beat  the 
assembly  and  all  the  battalions  took  their  arms. 
The  general,  Count  Gerard,  arrived  with  his  staff, 
and  passing  us  at  a  gallop,  without  any  notice,  went 
on  to  the  hill  below  Fleurus.  Almost  immediately 


212  WATERLOO 

the  firing  commenced;  the  scouts  of  Yandamme  ap- 
proached the  village  on  the  left,  and  two  pieces  of 
cannon  were  sent  off,  with  the  artillerymen  on  horse- 
back. After  five  or  six  discharges  of  cannon  from 
the  top  of  the  hill  the  musketry  ceased  and  our 
scouts  were  in  Eleurus,  and  we  saw  three  or  four 
hundred  Prussians  mounting  the  hill  in  fhe  distance, 
toward  Ligny.  General  Gerard,  after  looking  at 
this  little  engagement,  came  back  with  his  staff  and 
passed  slowly  down  our  front,  inspecting  us  care- 
fully, as  if  he  wished  to  ascertain  what  sort  of  humor 
we  were  in.  He  was  about  forty-five  years  old, 
brown,  with  a  large  head,  a  round  face,  the  lower 
part  heavy,  with  a  pointed  chin.  A  great  many 
peasants  in  our  country  resemble  him,  and  they  are 
not  the  most  stupid.  He  said  not  a  word  to  us,  and 
when  he  had  passed  the  whole  length  of  our  line,  all 
the  generals  and  colonels  were  grouped  together. 
The  command  was  given  to  order  arms.  The  or- 
derlies then  set  off  like  the  wind;  this  engrossed  the 
attention  of  all,  but  not  a  man  stirred.  The  rumor 
spread  that  Grouchy  was  to  be  commander-in-chief, 
and  that  the  Emperor  had  attacked  the  English  four 
leagues  away,  on  the  route  to  Brussels. 

This  news  put  us  in  anything  but  a  pleasant  hu- 
mor, and  more  than  one  said,  "  It  is  no  wonder  that 
we  are  here  doing  nothing  since  morning;  if  the 
Emperor  was  with  us,  we  should  have  given  battle 


WATERLOO 


213 


long  ago,  and  the  Prussians  would  not  have  had  time 
to  know  where  they  were." 

This  was  the  talk  we  indulged  in,  and  it  shows  the 
injustice  of  men;  for  three  hours  afterward,  in  the 
midst  of  shouts  of  "  Vive  VEmpereur"  Napoleon 
arrived.  These  shouts  swept  along  the  line  like  a 
tempest,  and  were  continued  even  opposite  Sombref . 
Now  everything  was  right.  That  for  which  we  had 
reproached  Marshal  Grouchy,  was  perfectly  proper 
when  done  by  the  Emperor,  since  it  was  he. 

Very  soon  the  order  reached  us  to  advance  our 
line  five  hundred  paces  to  the  right,  and  off  we  start- 
ed through  the  rye,  oats,  and  barley,  which  were 
swept  down  before  us,  but  the  principal  line  of  battle 
on  the  left  was  not  changed. 

As  we  reached  a  broad  road  which  we  had  not  be- 
fore seen  and  came  in  sight  of  Fleurus,  with  its  little 
brook  bordered  with  willows,  the  order  was  given 
to  halt!  A  murmur  ran  through  the  whole  divi- 
sion— "  There  he  is !  " 

He  was  on  horseback,  and  only  accompanied  by  a 
few  of  the  officers  of  his  staff. 

We  could  only  recognize  him  in  the  distance  by 
his  gray  coat  and  his  hat;  his  carriage  with  its  es- 
cort of  lancers  was  in  the  rear.  He  entered  Fleurus 
by  the  high  road,  and  remained  in  the  village  more 
than  an  hour,  while  we  were  roasting  in  the  grain 
fields. 


214  WATERLOO 

At  the  end  of  this  hour,  which  we  thought  inter- 
minable, files  of  staff  officers  set  off,  at  a  gallop,  bent 
over  their  saddle-bows  till  their  noses  were  between 
their  horse's  ears.  Two  of  them  stopped  near  Gen- 
eral Gerard,  one  remained  with  him,  and  the  other 
went  on  again.  Still  we  waited,  until  suddenly  the 
bands  of  all  the  regiments  began  to  play;  drums  and 
trumpets  all  together;  and  that  immense  line  which 
extended  from  the  rear  of  St.  Amand  to  the  forest, 
swung  round,  with  the  right  wing  in  the  advance. 
As  it  reached  beyond  our  division  in  the  rear,  we  ad- 
vanced our  line  still  more  obliquely,  and  again  the 
order  came,  Halt !  The  road  running  out  of  Fleurus 
was  opposite  us,  a  blank  wall  on  the  left;  behind 
which  were  trees  and  a  large  house,  and  in  front  a 
windmill  of  red  brick,  like  a  tower. 

We  had  hardly  halted,  when  the  Emperor  came 
out  of  this  mill  with  three  or  four  generals  and  two 
old  peasants  in  blouses,  holding  their  cotton  caps  in 
their  hands.  The  whole  division  commenced  to 
shout,  "  Vive  I'Empereur! " 

I  saw  him  plainly  as  he  came  along  a  path  in  front 
of  the  battalion,  with  his  head  bent  down  and  his 
hands  behind  his  back  listening  to  the  old  bald  peas- 
ant. He  took  no  notice  of  the  shouts,  but  turned 
round  twice  and  pointed  toward  Ligny.  I  saw  him 
as  plainly  as  I  could  see  Father  Goulden  when  we 
sat  opposite  each  other  at  table.  He  had  grown 


THE   EMPEROR,    HIS   HANDS   BEHIND   HIS   BACK,    AND  HIS   HBAD   BENT 
FORWARD. 


WATERLOO  215 

much  stouter  than  when  he  was  at  Leipzig,  and 
looked  yellow.  If  it  had  not  been  for  his  gray  coat 
and  his  hat,  I  should  hardly  have  recognized  him. 
His  cheeks  were  sunken  and  he  looked  much  older. 
All  this  came,  I  presume,  from  his  troubles  at  Elba, 
and  in  thinking  of  the  mistakes  he  had  made ;  for  he 
was  a  wise  man,  and  could  see  his  own  faults.  He 
had  destroyed  the  revolution  which  had  sustained 
him,  he  had  recalled  the  emigres  who  despised  him, 
he  had  married  an  archduchess  who  preferred  Vi- 
enna to  Paris,  and  he  had  chosen  his  bitterest  en- 
emies for  his  counsellors. 

In  short  he  had  put  everything  back  where  it  was 
before  the  revolution,  nothing  was  wanting  but 
Louis  XVIIL,  and  then  the  kings  had  put  Louis 
XVIII.  on  his  throne  again.  Now  he  had  come  to 
overthrow  the  legitimate  sovereign,  and  some  called 
him  a  despot,  and  some  a  Jacobin.  It  was  unfortu- 
nate for  him  that  he  had  done  everything  possible 
to  facilitate  the  return  of  the  Bourbons.  Nothing 
remained  to  him  but  his  army,  if  he  lost  that,  he  lost 
everything,  for  many  of  the  people  wanted  liberty 
like  Father  Goulden,  others  wanted  tranquillity  and 
peace  like  Mother  Gredel,  and  like  me  and  all  those 
who  were  forced  into  the  war. 

These  things  made  him  terribly  anxious,  he  had 
lost  the  confidence  of  the  whole  world.  The  old 
soldiers  alone  preserved  their  attachment  to  him, 


216  WATERLOO 

and  asked  only  to  conquer  or  die.  With  such  no- 
tions you  cannot  fail  of  one  or  the  other,  all  is  plain 
and  clear;  but  a  great  many  people  do  not  have 
these  ideas,  and  for  my  part  I  loved  Catherine  a 
thousand  times  more  than  the  Emperor. 

On  reaching  a  turn  in  the  wall,  where  the  hussars 
were  waiting  for  him,  he  mounted  his  horse,  and 
General  Gerard  who  had  recognized  him  came  up  at 
a  gallop.  He  turned  round  for  two  seconds  to  listen 
to  him,  and  then  both  went  into  Fleurus. 

Still  we  waited!  About  two  o'clock  General 
Gerard  returned,  and  our  line  was  obliqued  a  third 
time  more  to  the  right,  and  then  the  whole  division 
broke  into  columns,  and  we  followed  the  road  to 
Fleurus  with  the  cannon  and  caissons  at  intervals 
between  the  brigades.  The  dust  enveloped  us  com- 
pletely. 

Buche  said  to  me : 

"  Cost  what  it  may,  I  must  drink  at  the  first  pud- 
dle we  come  to." 

But  we  did  not  find  any  water.  The  music  did 
not  cease,  and  masses  of  cavalry  kept  coming  up  be- 
hind us,  principally  dragoons.  We  were  still  on  the 
march  when  suddenly  the  roar  of  musketry  and  can- 
non broke  on  our  ears  as  when  water  breaking  over 
its  barriers  sweeps  all  before  it. 

I  knew  what  it  was,  but  Buche  turned  pale  and 
looked  at  me  in  mute  astonishment. 


WATERLOO  217 

"  Yes,  indeed,  Jean,"  said  I,  "  those  over  there 
are  attacking  St.  Amand,  but  our  turn  will  come 
presently." 

The  music  had  ceased  but  the  thunder  of  the  guns 
had  redoubled,  and  we  heard  the  order  on  all  sides, 
"Halt!" 

The  division  stopped  on  the  road  and  the  gunners 
ran  out  at  intervals  and  put  their  pieces  in  line  fifty 
paces  in  front,  with  their  caissons  in  the  rear. 

We  were  opposite  Ligny.  We  could  only  see  a 
white  line  of  houses  half  hidden  in  the  orchards, 
with  a  church  spire  above  them — slopes  of  yellow 
earth,  trees,  hedges,  and  palisades.  There  we  were, 
twelve  or  fifteen  thousand  men  without  the  cavalry, 
waiting  the  order  to  attack. 

The  battle  raged  fiercely  about  St.  Amand,  and 
great  masses  of  smoke  rose  over  the  combatants  to- 
ward the  sky. 

While  waiting  for  our  turn,  my  thoughts  turned 
to  Catherine  with  more  tenderness  than  ever,  the 
idea  that  she  would  soon  be  a  mother  crossed  my 
mind,  and  then  I  besought  God  to  spare  my  life,  but 
with  this,  came  the  comfort  of  feeling  that  our  child 
would  be  there  if  I  should  die  to  console  them  all, 
Catherine,  Aunt  Gredel,  and  Father  Goulden.  If 
it  should  be  a  boy  they  would  call  it  Joseph,  and 
caress  it,  and  Father  Goulden  would  dandle  it  on  his 
knee,  Aunt  Gredel  would  love  it,  and  Catherine 


218  WATERLOO 

would  think  of  me  as  she  embraced  it,  and  I  should 
not  be  altogether  dead  to  them.  But  I  clung  to  life 
while  I  saw  how  terrible  was  the  conflict  before  us. 

Buche  said  to  me,  "  Joseph,  will  you  promise  me 
something? — I  have  a  cross — if  I  am  killed." 

He  shook  my  hand,  and  I  said :  "  I  promise." 

"  Well!  "  he  added,  "  it  is  here  on  my  breast. 
You  must  carry  it  to  Harberg  and  hang  it  up  in  the 
chapel  in  remembrance  of  Jean  Buche,  dead  in  the 
faith  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit." 

He  spoke  very  earnestly,  and  I  thought  his  wish 
very  natural.  Some  die  for  the  rights  of  Human- 
ity; with  some,  the  last  thought  is  for  their  mother, 
others  are  influenced  by  the  example  of  just  men 
who  have  sacrificed  themselves  for  the  race,  but  the 
feeling  is  the  same  in  every  case,  though  each  one 
expresses  it  according  to  his  own  manner  of  think- 
ing. 

I  gave  him  the  desired  promise  and  we  waited  for 
nearly  half  an  hour  longer.  All  the  troops  as  they 
left  the  wood  came  and  formed  near  us,  and  the 
cavalry  were  mustering  on  our  right  as  if  to  attack 
Sombref. 

Up  to  half -past  two  o'clock  not  a  gun  had  been 
fired,  when  an  aid-de-camp  of  the  Emperor  arrived 
on  the  road  to  Fleurus,  at  full  speed,  and  I  thought 
immediately,  "  Our  turn  has  come  now.  May  God 
watch  over  us,  for,  miserable  wretches  that  we  are, 


WATERLOO  219 

we  cannot  save  ourselves  in  such  a  slaughter  as  is 
threatening." 

I  had  scarcely  made  these  reflections  when  two 
battalions  on  the  right  set  off  on  the  road,  with  the 
artillery,  toward  Sombref,  where  the  Uhlans  and 
Prussian  cavalry  were  deploying  in  front  of  our 
dragoons.  It  was  the  fortune  of  these  two  bat- 
talions to  remain  in  position  on  the  route  all  that  day 
to  observe  the  cavalry  of  the  enemy,  while  we  went 
to  take  the  village  where  the  Prussians  were  in  force. 

The  attacking  columns  were  formed  just  as  the 
clock  struck  three;  I  was  in  the  one  on  the  left  which 
moved  first  at  a  quick  step  along  a  winding  road. 

On  the  hill  where  Ligny  was  situated,  was  an  im- 
mense ruin.  It  had  been  built  of  brick  and  was 
pierced  with  holes  and  overlooked  us  as  we  mounted 
the  hill.  We  watched  it  sharply  too,  through  the 
grain  as  we  went.  The  second  column  left  immedi- 
ately after  us  and  passed  by  a  shorter  route  directly 
up  the  hill,  we  were  to  meet  them  at  the  entrance  to 
the  village.  I  do  not  know  when  the  third  column 
left,  as  we  did  not  meet  again  till  later. 

All  went  smoothly  until  we  reached  a  point  where 
the  road  was  cut  through  a  little  elevation  and  then 
ran  down  to  the  village.  As  we  passed  through  be- 
tween these  little  hills  covered  with  grain,  and 
caught  sight  of  the  nearest  house,  a  veritable  hail  of 
balls  fell  on  the  head  of  the  column  with  a  frightful 


220  WATERLOO 

noise.  From  every  hole  in  the  old  ruin,  from  all 
the  windows  and  loop-holes  in  the  houses,  from  the 
hedges  and  orchards  and  from  above  the  stone  walls 
the  muskets  showered  their  deadly  fire  upon  us  like 
lightning. 

At  the  same  time  a  battery  of  fifteen  pieces  which 
had  been  for  that  very  purpose  placed  in  a  field  in 
the  rear  of  the  great  tower  at  the  left  of,  and  higher 
up  than  Ligny,  near  the  windmill,  opened  upon  us 
with  a  roar,  compared  with  which  that  of  the  mus- 
ketry was  nothing.  Those  who  had  unfortunately 
passed  the  cut  in  the  road  fell  over  each  other  in 
heaps  in  the  smoke.  At  that  moment  we  heard  the 
fire  of  the  other  column  which  had  engaged  the  en- 
emy at  our  right,  and  the  roar  of  other  cannon, 
though  we  could  not  tell  whether  they  were  ours  or 
those  of  the  Prussians. 

Fortunately  the  whole  battalion  had  not  passed 
the  little  knoll,  and  the  balls  whistled  through  the 
grain  above  us,  and  tore  up  the  ground  without  do- 
ing us  the  least  injury.  Every  time  this  whizzing 
was  heard,  I  observed  that  the  conscripts  near  me 
ducked  their  heads,  and  Jean  Buche,  I  remember, 
was  staring  at  me  with  open  eyes.  The  old  soldiers 
marched  with  tightly  compressed  lips. 

The  column  stopped.  For  an  instant  each  man 
thought  whether  it  would  not  be  better  to  turn  back, 
but  it  was  only  for  a  second,  the  enemy's  fire  seemed 


-WATERLOO  221 

to  slacken,  the  officers  all  drew  their  sabres  and 
shouted,  "  Forward !  " 

The  column  set  off  again  at  a  run  and  threw  itself 
into  the  road  that  led  down  the  hill  across  the 
hedges.  From  the  palisades  and  the  walls  behind 
which  the  Prussians  were  in  ambush,  they  continued 
to  pour  their  musketry  fire  upon  us.  But  woe  to 
every  one  we  encountered!  they  defended  them- 
selves with  the  desperation  of  wolves,  but  a  few 
blows  from  a  musket,  or  a  bayonet  thrust,  soon 
stretched  them  out  in  some  corner.  A  great  num- 
ber of  old  soldiers  with  gray  mustaches  had  secured 
their  retreat,  and  retired  in  good  order,  turning  to 
fire  a  last  shot,  and  then  slipped  through  a  breach  or 
shut  a  door.  We  followed  them  without  hesitation, 
we  had  neither  prudence  nor  mercy. 

At  last,  quite  scattered  and  in  the  greatest  confu- 
sion, we  reached  the  first  houses,  when  the  fusillade 
commenced  again  from  the  windows,  the  corners  of 
the  streets,  and  from  everywhere.  There  were  the 
orchards  and  the  gardens  and  the  stone  walls  which 
ran  along  the  hill-side,  but  they  were  thrown  down 
and  demolished,  the  palisades  torn  up,  and  could  no 
longer  serve  as  a  shelter  or  a  defence.  From  the 
well-barricaded  cottages,  they  still  poured  their  fire 
upon  us.  In  ten  minutes  more,  we  should  have 
been  exterminated  to  the  last  man ;  seeing  this,  the 
column  turned  down  the  hill  again,  drummers  and 


222  WATERLOO 

sappers,  officers  and  soldiers  pell-mell,  all  went  with- 
out once  turning  their  heads  to  look  back.  I  jumped 
over  the  palisades  where  I  never  should  have 
thought  it  possible  at  any  other  time,  with  my  knap- 
sack and  cartridge-box  at  my  back;  the  others  fol- 
lowed my  example,  and  we  all  tumbled  in  a  heap 
like  a  falling  wall. 

Once  in  the  road  again  between  the  hills,  we 
stopped  to  breathe.  Some  stretched  themselves  on 
the  ground,  and  others  sat  down  with  their  backs 
against  the  slope.  The  officers  were  furious;  as  if 
they  too  had  not  followed  the  movement  to  retreat, 
and  some  shouted  to  bring  up  the  cannon,  and  others 
wanted  to  re-form  the  troops,  though  they  could 
scarcely  make  themselves  heard  in  the  midst  of  the 
thunder  of  the  artillery  which  shook  the  air  like  a 
tempest. 

I  saw  Jean  Buche  hurrying  back  with  his  bayonet 
red  with  blood.  He  took  his  place  beside  me  with- 
out saying  a  word,  and  commenced  to  reload. 

Captain  Gregoire,  Lieutenant  Certain,  and  sev- 
eral sergeants  and  corporals,  and  more  than  a  hun- 
dred men  were  left  behind  in  the  orchards ;  and  the 
first  two  battalions  of  the  column  had  suffered  as 
much  as  we. 

Zebede,  with  his  great  crooked  nose,  white  as 
snow,  seeing  me  at  some  distance,  shouted,  "  Joseph 
—no  quarter ! " 


WATERLOO 


223 


Great  masses  of  white  smoke  rose  over  the  sides  of 
the  road.  The  whole  hill-side  from  Ligny  to  St. 
Amand  was  on  fire  behind  the  willows  and  aspens 
and  poplars. 

As  I  crept  up  on  my  hands  and  knees,  and  looked 
over  the  surface  of  the  grain  and  saw  this  terrible 
spectacle,  and  saw  the  long  black  lines  of  infantry 
on  the  top  of  the  hill  and  near  the  windmills,  and 
the  innumerable  cavalry  on  their  flanks  ready  to 
fall  upon  us,  I  went  back  thinking: 

"  We  shall  never  rout  that  army.  It  fills  the  vil- 
lages, and  guards  the  roads,  and  covers  the  hill  as 
far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  there  are  guns  everywhere, 
and  it  is  contrary  to  reason  to  persist  in  such  an 
enterprise." 

I  was  indignant  and  even  disgusted  with  the  gen- 
erals. 

All  this  did  not  take  ten  minutes.  God  only 
knew  what  had  become  of  our  other  two  columns. 
The  terrible  musketry  fire  on  the  left,  and  the  vol- 
leys of  grape  and  canister  which  we  heard  rushing 
through  the  air,  were  no  doubt  intended  for  them. 

I  thought  we  had  had  our  full  share  of  troubles, 
when  Generals  Gerard,  Vichery,  and  Schoeffer 
came  riding  up  at  full  speed  on  the  road  below  us, 
shouting  like  madmen,  "  Forward !  Forward !  " 

They  drew  their  swords,  and  there  was  nothing  to 
do  but  go. 


224  WATERLOO 

At  this  moment  our  batteries  on  the  road  below 
opened  their  fire  on  Ligny,  the  roofs  in  the  village 
tumbled,  and  the  walls  sank,  and  we  rushed  forward 
with  the  generals  at  our  head  with  their  swords 
drawn,  the  drums  beating  the  charge.  We  shouted, 
"  Vive  VEmpereiir."  The  Prussian  bullets  swept 
us  away  by  dozens,  and  shot  fell  like  hail,  and  the 
drums  kept  up  their  "  pan-pan-pan."  We  saw 
nothing,  heard  nothing,  as  we  crossed  the  orchards, 
nobody  paid  any  attention  to  those  who  fell,  and  in 
two  minutes  after,  we  entered  the  village,  broke  in 
the  doors  with  the  butts  of  our  muskets,  while  tho 
Prussians  fired  upon  us  from  the  windows. 

It  was  a  thousand  times  worse  in-doors,  because 
yells  of  rage  mingled  in  the  uproar;  we  rushed  into 
the  houses  with  fixed  bayonets  and  massacred  each 
other  without  mercy.  On  every  side  the  cry  rose, 
"  No  quarter!  " 

The  Prussians  who  were  surprised  in  the  first 
houses  we  entered,  were  old  soldiers  and  asked  for 
nothing  better.  They  perfectly  understood  what 
"  No  quarter  "  meant,  and  made  a  most  desperate 
defence. 

As  we  reached  the  third  or  fourth  house  on  a 
tolerably  wide  street  on  which  was  a  church,  and  a 
little  bridge  farther  on,  the  air  was  full  of  smoke 
from  the  fires  caused  by  our  bombs;  great  broken 
tiles  and  slate  were  raining  down  upon  us,  and  every- 


WATERLOO  225 

thing  roared  and  whistled  and  cracked,  when 
Zebede,  with  a  terrible  look  in  his  eyes,  seized  me  by 
the  arm,  shouting,  "  Come !  " 

We  rushed  into  a  large  room  already  filled  with 
soldiers,  on  the  first  floor  of  a  house;  it  was  dark,  as 
they  had  covered  the  windows  with  sacks  of  earth, 
but  we  could  see  a  steep  wooden  stairway  at  one  end, 
down  which  the  blood  was  running.  We  heard 
musket-shots  from  above  and  the  flashes  each  mo- 
ment showed  us  five  or  six  of  our  men  sunk  in  a  heap 
against  the  balustrade  with  their  arms  hanging 
down,  and  the  others  running  over  their  bodies  with 
their  bayonets  fixed,  trying  to  force  their  way  into 
the  loft. 

It  was  horrible  to  see  those  men  with  their  brist- 
ling mustaches,  and  brown  cheeks,  every  wrinkle  ex- 
pressing the  fury  which  possessed  them,  determined 
to  force  a  passage  at  any  cost.  The  sight  made  me 
furious,  and  I  shouted,  "  Forward!  ~No  quarter!  " 

If  I  had  been  near  the  stairway  t  I  might  have 
been  cut  to  pieces  in  mounting,  but  fortunately 
for  me,  others  were  ahead  and  not  one  would  give 
up  his  place. 

An  old  fellow,  covered  with  wounds,  succeeded 
in  reaching  the  top  of  the  stairs  under  the  bayonets. 
As  he  gained  the  loft  he  let  go  his  musket,  and 
seized  the  balustrade  with  both  hands.  Two  balls 
from  muskets  touching  his  breast  did  not  make  him 
IS 


226  WATERLOO 

let  go  his  hold.  Three  or  four  others  rushed  up  be- 
hind him  striving  each  to  be  first,  and  leaped  over 
the  top  stairs  into  the  loft  above. 

Then  followed  such  an  uproar  as  is  impossible  to 
describe,  shots  followed  each  other  in  quick  succes- 
sion, and  the  shouts  and  trampling  of  feet  made  us 
think  the  house  was  coming  down  over  our  heads. 
Others  followed,  and  when  I  reached  the  scene  be- 
hind Zebede,  the  room  was  full  of  dead  and  wound- 
ed men,  the  windows  were  blown  out,  the  walls 
splashed  with  blood,  and  not  a  Prussian  was  left  on 
his  feet.  Five  or  six  of  our  men  were  supporting 
themselves  against  the  different  pieces  of  furniture, 
smiling  ferociously.  ISTearly  all  of  them  had  balls 
or  bayonet  thrusts  in  their  bodies,  but  the  pleasure 
of  revenge  was  greater  than  the  pain  of  their 
wounds.  My  hair  stands  on  end  when  I  recall  that 
scene. 

As  soon  as  Zebede  saw  that  the  Prussians  were 
all  dead,  he  went  down  again,  saying  to  me,  "  Come, 
there  is  nothing  more  to  do  here." 

We  went  out  and  found  that  our  column  had 
already  passed  the  church,  and  thousands  of  mus- 
ket-shots crackled  against  the  bridge  like  the  fire 
breaking  out  from  a  coal-pit. 

The  second  column  had  come  down  the  broad 
street  on  our  right  and  joined  ours,  and  in  the  mean- 
time, one  of  those  Prussian  columns  which  we  had 


WATERLOO  227 

seen  on  the  hill  in  the  rear  of  Ligny,  came  down  to 
drive  us  out  of  the  village. 

Here  it  was  that  we  had  the  first  encounter  in 
force.  Two  staff  officers  rode  down  the  street  by 
which  we  had  come. 

"  Those  men,"  said  Zebede,  "  are  going  to  order 
up  the  guns.  When  they  arrive,  Joseph,  you  will 
see  whether  they  can  rout  us." 

He  ran  and  I  followed  him.  The  fight  at  the 
bridge  continued.  The  old  church  clock  struck  five. 
We  had  destroyed  all  the  Prussians  on  this  side  the 
stream  except  those  who  were  in  ambush  in  the 
great  old  ruin  at  the  left,  which  was  full  of  holes. 
It  had  been  set  on  fire  at  the  top  by  our  howitzers, 
but  the  fire  continued  from  the  lower  stories,  and  we 
were  obliged  to  avoid  it. 

In  front  of  the  church  we  were  in  force.  We 
found  the  little  square  filled  with  troops  ready  to 
march,  and  others  were  coming  by  the  broad  street, 
which  traversed  the  whole  length  of  Ligny.  Only 
the  head  of  the  column  was  engaged  at  the  little 
bridge.  The  Prussians  tried  hard  to  repulse  them. 
The  discharges  in  file  followed  each  other  like  run- 
ning water.  The  square  was  so  filled  with  smoke 
that  we  could  see  nothing  but  the  bayonets,  the 
front  of  the  church,  and  the  officers  on  the  steps 
giving  their  orders.  Now  and  then  a  staff  officer 
would  set  off  at  a  gallop,  and  the  air  round  the  old 


228  WATERLOO 

slated  spire  was  full  of  rooks  whirling  about  af- 
frighted with  the  noise.  The  cannon  at  St.  Amand 
roared  incessantly. 

Between  the  gables  on  the  left,  we  could  see  on 
the  hill,  the  long  blue  lines  of  infantry  and  masses 
of  cavalry  coming  from  Sombref  to  turn  our  col- 
umns. It  was  there  in  our  rear  that  the  desperate 
combats  took  place  between  the  Uhlans  and  our 
hussars.  How  many  of  these  Uhlans  we  saw  next 
morning  stretched  dead  on  the  plain! 

Our  battalion  having  suffered  the  most,  we  fell 
back  to  the  second  rank.  We  soon  found  our  own 
company  commanded  by  Captain  Florentin.  The 
guns  were  arriving  by  the  same  street  on  which  we 
were ;  the  horses  at  full  gallop  foaming  and  shaking 
their  heads  furiously,  while  the  wheels  crushed 
everything  before  them.  All  this  produced  a  tre- 
mendous uproar,  but  the  thunder  of  cannon  and  the 
crash  of  musketry  was  all  that  could  be  distin- 
guished. The  soldiers  were  all  shouting  and  sing- 
ing, with  their  guns  on  their  shoulders,  but  we 
knew  this  only  by  seeing  their  open  mouths. 

I  had  just  taken  my  place  by  the  side  of  Buche 
and  had  begun  to  breathe,  when  a  forward  move- 
ment began. 

This  time  the  plan  was  to  cross  the  little  stream, 
push  the  Prussians  out  of  Ligny,  mount  the  hill  be- 
hind and  cut  their  line  in  two,  and  the  battle  would 


WATERLOO 


229 


be  gained.  Each  one  of  us  understood  that,  but 
with  such  masses  of  troops  as  they  held  in  reserve,  it 
was  no  small  affair. 

Everything  moved  toward  the  bridge,  but  we 
could  see  nothing  but  the  five  or  six  men  before  us, 
and  I  was  well  satisfied  to  know  that  the  head  of 
the  column  was  far  in  front. 

But  I  was  most  delighted  when  Captain  Florentin 
halted  our  company  in  front  of  an  old  barn  with  the 
door  broken  down,  and  posted  the  remnant  of  the 
battalion  behind  the  ruins  in  order  to  sustain  the 
attacking  columns  by  firing  from  the  windows. 

There  were  fifteen  of  us  in  that  barn  and  I  can 
see  it  now,  with  the  door  hanging  by  one  hinge,  and 
battered  with  the  balls,  and  the  ladder  running  up 
through  a  square  hole,  three  or  four  dead  Prussians 
leaning  against  the  walls,  and  a  window  at  the  other 
end  looking  into  the  street  in  the  rear. 

Zebede  commanded  our  post,  Lieutenant  Breton- 
ville  occupied  the  house  opposite  with  another 
squad,  and  Captain  Florentin  went  somewhere  else. 
The  street  was  filled  with  troops  quite  up  to  the  two 
corners  near  the  brook. 

The  first  thing  we  tried  to  do  was  to  put  up  the 
door  and  fasten  it,  but  we  had  hardly  commenced 
when  we  heard  a  terrible  crash  in  the  street,  and 
walls,  shutters,  tiles,  and  everything  were  swept 
away  at  a  stroke.  Two  of  our  men  who  were  outside 


230  WATERLOO 

holding  up  the  door,  fell  as  if  cut  down  with  a 
scythe. 

At  the  same  moment  we  could  hear  the  steps  of 
the  retreating  column  rolling  over  the  bridge,  while 
a  dozen  more  such  explosions  made  us  draw  back  in 
spite  of  ourselves.  It  was  a  battery  of  six  pieces 
charged  with  canister  which  Bliicher  had  masked 
at  the  end  of  the  street,  and  which  now  opened 
upon  us. 

The  whole  column — drummers,  soldiers,  officers, 
mounted  and  foot,  were  in  retreat,  pushing  and  jost- 
ling each  other,  swept  along  as  by  a  hurricane.  No- 
body looked  back,  those  who  fell  were  lost.  The 
last  ones  had  hardly  passed  our  door  when  Zebede, 
who  looked  out  to  see  what  had  happened,  shouted 
in  a  voice  of  thunder,  "  The  Prussians !  " 

He  fired,  and  several  of  us  rushed  for  the  ladder, 
but  before  we  could  think  of  climbing  they  were 
upon  us.  Zebede,  Buche,  and  all  who  had  not  had 
time  to  get  up  the  ladder  drove  them  back  with 
their  bayonets.  It  seems  to  me  as  if  I  could  see 
those  Prussians  still,  with  their  big  mustaches,  their 
red  faces  and  flat  shakos,  furious  at  being  checked. 

I  never  had  such  a  shock  as  that.  Zebede  shout- 
ed, "  No  quarter,"  just  as  if  we  had  been  the 
stronger.  But  immediately  he  received  a  blow  on 
the  head  from  the  butt  of  a  musket  and  fell. 

I  saw  that  he  was  going  to  be  murdered  and  I 


WATERLOO  231 

burned  for  revenge.  I  shouted,  "  To  the  bayonet," 
and  we  all  fell  upon  the  rascals,  while  our  comrades 
fired  at  them  from  above,  and  a  fusillade  com- 
menced from  the  houses  opposite. 

The  Prussians  fell  back,  but  a  little  distance  away 
there  was  a  whole  battalion.  Buche  took  Zebede 
on  his  shoulders  and  started  up  the  ladder.  We  fol- 
lowed him,  shouting  "  Hurry!  "  while  we  aided  him 
with  all  our  strength  to  climb  the  ladder  with  his 
burden.  I  was  next  to  the  last,  and  I  thought  we 
should  never  get  up.  We  heard  the  shots  already 
in  the  barn,  but  we  were  up  at  last,  and  all  inspired 
with  the  same  idea,  we  tried  to  draw  the  ladder  up 
after  us.  To  our  horror  we  found,  as  we  endeavored 
to  pull  it  through  the  opening  between  the  shots, 
one  of  which  took  off  the  head  of  a  comrade,  that 
it  was  so  large  we  could  not  get  it  into  the  loft. 
We  hesitated  for  a  moment,  when  Zebede,  recover- 
ing himself,  exclaimed,  "  Shoot  through  the 
rounds!  "  This  seemed  to  us  an  inspiration  from 
heaven. 

Below  us  the  uproar  was  terrible.  The  whole 
street,  as  well  as  our  barn,  was  full  of  Prussians. 

They  were  mad  with  rage,  and  worse  than  we; 
repeating  incessantly,  "  No  prisoners!  " 

They  were  enraged  by  the  musket-shots  from  the 
houses;  they  broke  down  the  doors,  and  then  we 
could  hear  the  struggles,  the  falls,  curees  in  French 


232  WATERLOO 

and  German,  the  orders  of  Lieutenant  Breton ville 
opposite,  and  the  Prussian  officers  commanding 
their  men  to  go  and  bring  straw  to  fire  the  houses. 
Fortunately  the  harvest  was  not  yet  secured,  or  we 
should  all  have  been  burned. 

They  fired  into  the  floor  under  our  feet,  but  it 
was  made  of  thick  oak  plank  and  the  balls  tapped  on 
it  like  the  strokes  of  a  hammer.  We  stood  one  be- 
hind the  other  and  continued  our  fire  into  the  street, 
and  every  shot  told. 

It  appeared  as  if  they  had  retaken  the  church 
square,  for  we  only  heard  our  fire  very  far  away. 
We  were  alone,  two  or  three  hundred  men  in  the 
midst  of  three  or  four  thousand.  Then  I  said  to 
myself,  "  Joseph !  you  will  never  escape  from  this 
danger.  It  is  impossible !  your  end  has  come !  "  I 
dared  not  think  of  Catherine,  my  heart  quaked. 
Our  retreat  was  cut  off,  the  Prussians  held  both 
ends  of  the  street  and  the  lanes  in  the  rear,  and  they 
had  already  retaken  several  houses. 

Suddenly  the  hubbub  ceased ;  they  were  making 
some  preparation  we  thought;  they  have  gone  for 
straw  or  fagots  or  they  are  going  to  bring  up  their 
guns  to  demolish  us. 

Our  gunners  looked  out  of  the  window,  but  they 
saw  nothing,  the  barn  was  empty.  This  dead  si- 
lence was  more  terrible  than  the  tumult  had  been  a 
few  minutes  before. 


WATERLOO  233 

Zebede  had  just  raised  himself  up,  and  the  blood 
was  running  from  his  mouth  and  nose. 

"Attention!  we  are  going  to  have  another  at- 
tack. The  rascals  are  getting  ready.  Charge!  " 

He  hardly  finished  speaking  when  the  whole 
building,  from  the  gables  to  the  foundation,  swayed 
as  if  the  earth  had  opened  beneath  it,  and  beams 
and  lath  and  slate  came  down  with  the  shock,  while 
a  red  flame  burst  out  under  our  feet  and  mounted 
above  the  roof.  We  all  fell  in  a  heap. 

A  lighted  bomb  which  the  Prussians  had  rolled 
into  the  barn  had  just  exploded.  On  getting  up  I 
heard  a  whizzing  in  my  ears,  but  that  did  not  pre- 
vent me  from  seeing  a  ladder  placed  at  the  window 
of  the  barn.  Buche  was  using  his  bayonet  with 
great  effect  on  the  invaders. 

The  Prussians  thought  to  profit  by  our  surprise 
to  mount  the  ladder  and  butcher  us;  this  made  me 
shudder,  but  I  ran  to  the  assistance  of  my  comrade. 
Two  others  who  had  escaped,  ran  up  shouting, 
"  Vive  VEmpereur!  " 

I  heard  nothing  more,  the  noise  was  frightful. 
The  flashes  of  the  muskets  below  and  from  the  win- 
dows lighted  up  the  street  like  a  moving  flame.  We 
had  thrown  down  the  ladder,  and  there  were  six  of 
us  still  remaining,  two  in  front  who  fired  the  mus- 
kets, and  four  behind  who  loaded  and  passed  the 
guns  to  them. 


234  WATERLOO 

In  this  extremity  I  had  become  calm.  I  resigned 
myself  to  my  fate,  thinking  I  would  try  to  sell  my 
own  life  as  dearly  as  possible.  .  The  others  no  doubt 
had  the  same  thoughts,  and  we  made  great  havoc. 

This  lasted  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  when  the 
cannon  began  to  thunder  again,  and  some  seconds 
after  our  comrades  in  front  looked  out  the  window 
and  ceased  firing.  My  cartridge-box  was  nearly 
empty,  and  I  went  to  replenish  it  from  those  of  my 
dead  comrades. 

The  cries  of  "  Vive  I'Empereur!"  came  nearer 
and  nearer,  when  suddenly  the  head  of  our  column 
with  its  flag  all  blackened  and  torn,  filed  into  the 
little  square  through  our  street. 

The  Prussians  beat  a  retreat.  We  all  wanted  to 
go  down,  but  two  or  three  times  the  column  recoiled 
before  the  grape  and  canister.  The  shouts  and  the 
thunder  of  the  cannon  mingled  afresh.  Zebede, 
who  was  looking  out,  ran  to  the  ladder.  Our  col- 
umn had  passed  the  barn  and  we  all  went  down  in 
file  without  regarding  our  comrades  who  were 
wounded  by  the  bursting  of  the  bomb,  some  of 
whom  begged  us  piteously  not  to  leave  them  behind. 

Such  are  men !  the  fear  of  being  taken  prisoners, 
made  us  barbarians. 

When  we  recalled  these  terrible  scenes  afterward, 
we  would  have  given  anything  if  we  had  had  the 
least  heart,  but  then  it  was  too  late. 


XIX 

AN  hour  before,  fifteen  of  us  had  entered  that  old 
barn,  now  there  were  but  six  to  come  out. 

Buche  and  Zebede  were  among  the  living;  the 
Pfalzbourgers  had  been  fortunate. 

Once  outside  it  was  necessary  to  follow  the  attack- 
ing column. 

We  advanced  over  the  heaps  of  dead.  Our  feet 
encountered  this  yielding  mass,  but  we  did  not  look 
to  see  if  we  stepped  on  the  face  of  a  wounded  man, 
on  his  breast,  or  on  his  limbs ;  we  marched  straight 
on.  We  found  out  next  morning,  that  this  mass  of 
men  had  been  cut  down  by  the  battery  in  front  of 
the  church;  their  obstinacy  had  proved  their  ruin. 

Bliicher  was  only  waiting  to  serve  us  in  the  same 
manner,  but  instead  of  going  over  the  bridge  we 
turned  off  to  the  right  and  occupied  the  houses 
along  the  brook.  The  Prussians  fired  at  us  from 
every  window  opposite,  but  as  soon  as  we  were  am- 
bushed we  opened  our  fire  on  their  guns  and  they 
were  obliged  to  fall  back. 

They  had  already  begun  to  talk  of  attacking  the 
other  part  of  the  village,  when  the  rumor  was  heard 
235 


236  WATERLOO 

that  a  column  of  Prussians  forty  thousand  strong 
had  come  up  behind  us  from  Charleroi.  We  could 
not  understand  it,  as  we  had  swept  everything  be- 
fore us  to  the  banks  of  the  Sambre.  This  column 
which  had  fallen  on  our  rear,  must  have  been  hidden 
in  the  forest. 

It  was  about  half-past  six  and  the  combat  at  St. 
Amand  seemed  to  grow  fiercer  than  ever.  Bliicher 
had  moved  his  forces  to  that  side,  and  it  was  a  favor- 
able moment  to  carry  the  other  part  of  the  village, 
but  this  column  forced  us  to  wait. 

The  houses  on  either  side  of  the  brook  were  filled 
with  troops,  the  French  on  the  right  and  the  Prus- 
sians on  the  left.  The  firing  had  ceased,  a  few  shots 
were  still  heard  from  time  to  time,  but  they  were 
evidently  by  design.  We  looked  at  each  other  as  if 
to  say,  "  Let  us  breathe  awhile  now,  and  we  will 
commence  again  presently." 

The  Prussians  in  the  house  opposite  us,  in  their 
blue  coats  and  leather  shakos,  with  their  mustaches 
turned  up,  were  all  strongly  built  men,  old  soldiers 
with  square  chins  and  their  ears  standing  out  from 
their  heads.  They  looked  as  if  they  might  over- 
throw us  at  a  blow.  The  officers,  too,  were  looking 
on. 

Along  the  two  streets  which  were  parallel  with 
the  brook  and  in  the  brook  itself,  the  dead  were 
lying  in  long  rows. 


WATERLOO 


237 


Many  of  them  were  seated  with  their  backs 
against  the  walls.  They  had  been  dangerously 
wounded  in  the  battle  but  had  had  sufficient 
strength  to  retire  from  the  strife,  and  had 
sunk  down  against  the  wall  and  died  from  loss  of 
blood. 

Some  were  still  standing  upright  in  the  brook, 
their  hands  clutching  the  bank  as  if  to  climb  out, 
rigid  in  death.  And  in  obscure  corners  of  the 
ruined  houses,  when  they  were  lighted  up  with  the 
sun's  rays,  we  could  see  the  miserable  wretches 
crushed  under  the  rubbish,  with  stones  and  beams 
lying  across  their  bodies. 

The  struggle  at  St.  Amand  became  still  more  ter- 
rible, the  discharges  of  cannon  seemed  to  rise  one 
above  the  other,  and  if  we  had  not  all  been  looking 
death  in  the  face,  nothing  could  have  prevented  us 
from  admiring  this  grand  music. 

At  every  discharge  hundreds  of  men  perished, 
but  there  was  no  interruption,  the  solid  earth  trem- 
bled under  our  feet.  We  could  breathe  again  now, 
and  very  soon  we  began  to  feel  a  most  intolerable 
thirst.  During  the  fight  nobody  had  thought  of 
it,  but  now  everybody  wanted  to  drink. 

Our  house  formed  the  corner  at  the  left  of  the 
bridge,  but  the  little  water  that  was  running  over 
the  muddy  bottom  of  the  brook  was  red  with  blood. 
Between  our  house  and  the  next  there  was  a  little 


238  WATERLOO 

garden,  where  there  was  a  well  from  which  to 
water  it.  We  all  looked  at  this  well  with  its  curb 
and  its  wooden  posts;  the  bucket  was  still  hanging 
to  the  chain  in  spite  of  the  showers  of  shot,  but 
three  men  were  already  lying  face  downward  in 
the  path  leading  to  it.  The  Prussians  had  shot 
them  as  they  were  trying  to  reach  it. 

As  we  stood  there  with  our  loaded  muskets,  one 
said,  "  I  would  give  half  my  blood  for  one  glass  of 
that  water;  "  another,  "  Yes,  but  the  Prussians  are 
on  the  watch." 

This  was  true,  there  they  were,  a  hundred  paces 
from  us,  perhaps  they  were  as  thirsty  as  we,  and 
were  guessing  our  thoughts. 

The  shots  that  were  still  fired  came  from  these 
houses,  and  no  one  could  go  along  the  street,  they 
would  shoot  him  at  once,  so  we  were  all  suffering 
horribly. 

This  lasted  for  another  half  hour,  when  the  can- 
nonade extended  from  St.  Amand  to  Ligny,  and  we 
could  see  that  our  batteries  had  opened  with  grape 
and  canister  on  the  Prussians  by  the  great  gaps 
made  in  their  columns  at  every  discharge. 

This  new  attack  produced  a  great  excitement. 
Buche,  who  had  not  stirred  till  that  moment,  ran 
down  through  the  path  leading  to  the  well  in  the 
garden  and  sheltered  himself  behind  the  curb. 
From  the  two  houses  opposite  a  volley  was  fired, 


WATERLOO  339 

and  the  stones  and  the  posts  were  soon  riddled  with, 
balls. 

But  we  opened  our  fire  on  their  windows  and  in 
an  instant  it  began  again  from  one  end  of  the  vil- 
lage to  the  other,  and  everything  was  enveloped  in 
smoke. 

At  that  moment  I  heard  some  one  shout  from  be- 
low, "  Joseph,  Joseph !  " 

It  was  Buche;  he  had  had  the  courage  after  he 
had  drank  himself,  to  fill  the  bucket,  unfasten  it, 
and  bring  it  back  with  him. 

Several  old  soldiers  wanted  to  take  it  from  him, 
but  he  shouted,  "  My  comrade  first !  let  go,  or  I'll 
pour  it  all  out !  " 

They  were  compelled  to  wait  till  I  had  drank, 
then  they  took  their  turn,  and  afterward  the  others 
who  were  upstairs  drained  the  rest. 

We  all  went  up  together  greatly  refreshed. 

It  was  about  seven  o'clock  and  near  sunset,  the 
shadows  of  the  houses  on  our  side  reached  quite  to 
the  brook — while  those  occupied  by  the  Prussians 
were  still  in  the  sunlight,  as  well  as  the  hill-side  of 
Bry,  down  which  we  could  see  the  fresh  troops 
coming  on  the  run.  The  cannonade  had  never  been 
so  fierce  as  at  this  moment  from  our  side. 

Every  one  now  knows,  that  at  nightfall  between 
seven  and  eight  o'clock  the  Emperor,  having  dis- 
covered that  the  column  which  had  been  signalled 


240  WATERLOO 

in  our  rear  was  the  corps  of  General  d'Erlon,  which 
had  missed  its  route  between  the  battle  of  Ney  with 
the  English  at  Quatre-Bras  and  ours  here  at  Ligny, 
had  ordered  the  Old  Guard  to  support  us  at  once. 

The  lieutenant  who  was  with  us  said,  "  This  is 
the  grand  attack.  Attention!  " 

The  whole  of  the  Prussian  cavalry  was  swarm- 
ing between  the  two  villages.  We  felt  that  there 
was  a  grand  movement  behind  us,  though  we  did 
not  see  it.  The  lieutenant  repeated,  "  Attention  to 
orders!  Let  no  one  stay  behind  after  the  order  to 
march!  Here  is  the  attack!  " 

We  all  opened  our  eyes.  The  farther  the  night 
advanced  the  redder  the  sky  grew  over  St.  Amand. 
We  were  so  absorbed  in  listening  to  the  cannonade 
that  we  no  longer  thought  of  anything  else.  At 
each  discharge  you  would  have  said  the  heavens 
were  on  fire.  The  tumult  behind  us  was  increasing. 

Suddenly  the  broad  street  running  along  the 
brook  was  full  of  troops,  from  the  bridge  quite  to  the 
end  of  Ligny.  On  the  left  in  the  distance  the  Prus- 
sians were  shooting  from  the  windows  again,  while 
we  did  not  reply.  The  shout  rose — "  The  Guard ! 
the  Guard !  "  I  do  not  know  how  that  mass  of  men 
passed  the  muddy  ditch,  probably  by  means  of 
plank  thrown  across,  but  in  a  moment  they  were  on 
the  left  bank  in  force. 

The  batteries  of  the  Prussians  at  the  top  of  the 


HE  HAD  HAD   TIIE   COURAGE  TO   PULL   UP  THE   BUCKET. 


WATERLOO 


241 


ravine  between  the  two  villages,  cut  gaps  through 
our  columns,  but  they  closed  up  immediately,  and 
moved  steadily  up  the  hill.  What  remained  of  our 
division  ran  across  the  bridge,  followed  by  the  ar- 
tillerymen and  their  pieces  with  the  horses  at  a 
gallop. 

Then  we  went  down  to  the  street,  but  we  had  not 
reached  the  bridge  when  the  cuirassiers  began  to  file 
over  it,  followed  by  the  dragoons  and  the  mounted 
grenadiers  of  the  guard.  They  were  passing  every- 
where, across  and  around  the  village.  It  was  like 
a  new  and  innumerable  army. 

The  slaughter  began  again  on  the  hill,  this  time 
the  battle  was  in  the  open  fields,  and  we  could  trace 
the  outlines  of  the  Prussian  squares  on  the  hill-side 
at  every  discharge  of  musketry. 

We  rushed  on  over  the  dead  and  wounded,  and 
when  we  were  clear  of  the  village  we  could  see  that 
there  was  an  engagement  between  the  cavalry, 
though  we  could  only  distinguish  the  white  cuirasses 
as  they  pierced  the  lines  of  the  Uhlans;  then  they 
would  be  indiscriminately  mingled  and  the  cuiras- 
siers would  re-form  and  set  off  again  like  a  solid 
wall. 

It  was  dark  already,  and  the  dense  masses  of 
smoke  made  it  impossible  to  see  fifty  paces  ahead. 
Everything  was  moving  toward  the  windmills,  the 
clatter  of  the  cavalry,  the  shouts,  the  orders  of  the 

16 


242  WATERLOO 

officers  and  the  file-firing  in  the  distance,  all  were 
confounded.  Several  of  the  squares  were  broken. 
From  time  to  time  a  flash  would  reveal  a  lancer  bent 
to  his  horse's  neck,  or  a  cuirassier,  with  his  broad 
white  back  and  his  helmet  with  its  floating  plume, 
shooting  off  like  a  bullet,  two  or  three  foot  soldiers 
running  about  in  the  midst  of  the  fray, — all  would 
come  and  go  like  lightning.  The  trampled  grain, 
the  rain  streaking  the  heavens,  the  wounded  under 
the  feet  of  the  horses,  all  came  out  of  the  black 
night — through  the  storm  which  had  just  broken 
out — for  a  quarter  of  a  second. 

Every  flash  of  musket  or  pistol  showed  us  inex- 
plicable things  by  thousands.  But  everything 
moved  up  the  hill  and  away  from  Ligny;  we  were 
masters. 

We  had  pierced  the  enemy's  centre,  the  Prussians 
no  longer  made  any  defence,  except  at  the  top  of  the 
hill  near  the  mills  and  in  the  direction  of  Sombref, 
at  our  right.  St.  Amand  and  Ligny  were  both  in 
our  hands. 

As  for  us,  a  dozen  or  so  of  our  company  there 
alone  among  the  ruins  of  the  cottages,  with  our  car- 
tridge-boxes almost  empty; — we  did  not  know  which 
way  to  turn. 

Zebede,  Lieutenant  Bretonville,  and  Captain 
Florentin  had  disappeared,  and  Sergeant  Rabot  was 
in  command.  He  was  a  little  old  fellow,  thin  and 


WATERLOO  243 

deformed,  but  as  tough  as  steel;  lie  squinted  and 
seemed  to  have  had  red  hair  when  young.  Now,  as 
I  speak  of  him,  I  seem  to  hear  him  say  quietly  to 
us,  "  The  battle  is  won!  by  file  right!  forward, 
march!  " 

Several  wanted  to  stop  and  make  some  soup,  for 
we  had  eaten  nothing  since  noon  and  began  to  be 
hungry.  The  sergeant  marched  down  the  lane  with 
his  musket  on  his  shoulder,  laughing  quietly,  and 
saying  in  an  ironical  tone : 

"  Oh !  soup,  soup !  wait  a  little,  the  commissary 
is  coming!  " 

We  followed  him  down  the  dark  lane ;  about  mid- 
way we  saw  a  cuirassier  on  horseback  with  his  back 
toward  us.  He  had  a  sabre  cut  in  the  abdomen  and 
had  retired  into  this  lane,  the  horse  leaned  agr  :jst 
the  wall  to  prevent  him  from  falling  off. 

As  we  filed  past  he  called  out,  "  Comrades!  "  But 
nobody  even  turned  his  head. 

Twenty  paces  farther  on  we  found  the  ruins  of  a 
cottage  completely  riddled  with  balls,  but  half  the 
thatched  roof  was  still  there,  and  this  was  why  Ser- 
geant Rabot  had  selected  it;  and  we  filed  into  it  for 
shelter. 

We  could  see  no  more  than  if  we  had  been  in  an 
oven ;  the  sergeant  exploded  the  priming  of  his  mus- 
ket, and  we  saw  that  it  was  the  kitchen,  that  the  fire- 
place was  at  the  right,  and  the  stairway  on  the  left. 


244  WATERLOO 

Five  or  six  Prussians  and  Frenchmen  were  stretched 
on  the  floor,  white  as  wax,  and  with  their  eyes  wido 
open. 

"  Here  is  the  mess-room,"  said  the  sergeant,  "  let 
every  one  make  himself  comfortable.  Our  bedfel- 
lows will  not  kick  us." 

As  we  saw  plainly  that  there  were  to  be  no  ra- 
tions, each  one  took  off  his  knapsack  and  placed  it  by 
the  wall  on  the  floor  for  a  pillow.  "We  could  still 
hear  the  firing,  but  it  was  far  in  the  distance  on  the 
hill. 

The  rain  fell  in  torrents.  The  sergeant  chut  the 
door,  which  creaked  on  its  hinges,  and  then  quietly 
lighted  his  pipe.  Some  of  the  men  were  already 
snoring  when  I  looked  up,  and  he  was  standing  at 
the  little  window,  in  which  not  a  pane  of  glass  re- 
mained, smoking. 

He  was  a  firm,  just  man,  he  could  read  and  write, 
had  been  wounded  and  had  his  three  chevrons,  and 
ought  to  have  been  an  officer,  only  he  was  not  well 
formed. 

He  soon  laid  his  head  on  his  knapsack,  and  shortly 
after  all  were  asleep.  It  was  long  after  this  when  I 
was  suddenly  awakened  by  footsteps  and  fumbling 
about  the  house  outside. 

I  raised  up  on  my  elbow  to  listen,  when  somebody 
tried  to  open  the  door.  I  could  not  help  screaming 
out.  "  What's  the  matter? "  said  the  sergeant. 


WATERLOO 


245 


"We  could  hear  them  running  away,  and  Rabot 
turned  on  his  knapsack  saying : 

"  Night  birds, — rascals, — clear  out,  or  I'll  send  a 
ball  after  you !  "  He  said  no  more  and  I  got  up  and 
looked  out  of  the  window,  and  saw  the  wretches  in 
the  act  of  robbing  the  dead  and  wounded.  They 
were  going  softly  from  one  to  another,  while  the 
rain  was  falling  in  torrents.  It  was  something  hor- 
rible. 

I  lay  down  again  and  fell  asleep  overcome  by 
fatigue. 

At  daybreak  the  sergeant  was  up  and  crying, 
"En  route!" 

We  left  the  cottage  and  went  back  through  the 
lane.  The  cuirassier  was  on  the  ground,  but  his 
horse  still  stood  beside  him.  The  sergeant  took 
him  by  the  bridle  and  led  him  out  into  the  orchard, 
pulled  the  bits  from  his  mouth  and  said : 

"  Go,  and  eat,  they  will  find  you  again  by  and 
by." 

And  the  poor  beast  walked  quietly  away.  We 
hurried  along  the  path  which  runs  by  Ligny.  The 
furrows  stopped  here  and  some  plats  of  garden 
ground  lay  along  by  the  road.  The  sergeant  looked 
about  him  as  he  went,  and  stooped  down  to  dig  up 
some  carrots  and  turnips  which  were  left.  I  quick- 
ly followed  his  example,  while  our  comrades  has- 
tened on  without  looking  round. 


246  WATERLOO 

I  saw  that  it  was  a  good  thing  to  know  the  fruits 
of  the  earth.  I  found  two  beautiful  turnips  and 
some  carrots,  which  are  very  good  raw,  but  I  fol- 
lowed the  example  of  the  sergeant  and  put  them  in 
my  shako. 

I  ran  on  to  overtake  the  squad,  which  was  direct- 
ing its  steps  toward  the  fires  at  Sombref.  As  for 
the  rest,  I  will  not  attempt  to  describe  to  you  the 
appearance  of  the  plateau  in  the  rear  of  Ligny  where 
our  cuirassiers  and  dragoons  had  slaughtered  all  be- 
fore them.  The  men  and  horses  were  lying  in 
heaps.  The  horses  with  their  long  necks  stretched 
out  on  the  ground  and  the  dead  and  wounded  lying 
under  them. 

Sometimes  the  wounded  men  would  raise  their 
hands  to  make  signs  when  the  horses  would  attempt 
to  get  up  and  fall  back,  crushing  them  still  more 
fearfully. 

Blood!  blood!  everywhere.  The  directions  of 
the  balls  and  shot  was  marked  on  the  slope  by  the 
red  lines,  just  as  we  see  in  our  country  the  lines  in 
the  sand  formed  by  the  water  from  the  melting 
snow.  But  will  you  believe  it?  These  horrors 
scarcely  made  any  impression  upon  me.  Before  I 
went  to  Lutzen  such  a  sight  would  have  knocked  me 
down.  I  should  have  thought  then,  "  Do  our  mas- 
ters look  upon  us  as  brutes?  Will  the  good  God 
give  us  up  to  be  eaten  by  wolves  ?  Have  we  mothers 


WATERLOO  247 

and  sisters  and  friends,  beings  who  are  dear  to  us, 
and  will  they  not  cry  out  for  vengeance  ?  " 

I  should  have  thought  of  a  thousand  other  things, 
but  now  I  did  not  think  at  all.  From  having  seen 
such  a  mass  of  slaughter  and  wrong  every  day  and 
in  every  fashion,  I  began  to  say  to  myself : 

"  The  strongest  are  always  right.  The  Emperor 
is  the  strongest,  and  he  has  called  us,  and  we  must 
come  in  spite  of  everything,  from  Pf alzbourg,  from 
Saverne,  or  other  cities,  and  take  our  places  in  the 
ranks  and  march.  The  one  who  would  show  the 
least  sign  of  resistance  ought  to  be  shot  at  once.  The 
marshals,  the  generals,  the  officers,  down  to  the  last 
man,  follow  their  instructions,  they  dare  not  make 
a  move  without  orders,  and  everybody  obeys  the 
army.  It  is  the  Emperor  who  wills,  who  has  the 
power  and  who  does  everything.  And  would  not 
Joseph  Bertha  be  a  fool  to  believe  that  the  Emperor 
ever  committed  a  single  fault  in  his  life?  Would 
it  not  be  contrary  to  reason?  " 

That  was  what  we  all  thought,  and  if  the  Emperor 
had  remained  here,  all  France  would  have  had  the 
same  opinion. 

My  only  satisfaction  was  in  thinking  that  I  had 
some  carrots  and  turnips,  for  in  passing  in  the  rear 
of  the  pickets  to  find  our  place  in  the  battalion,  we 
learned  that  no  rations  had  been  distributed  except 
brandy  and  cartridges. 


248  WATERLOO 

The  veterans  were  filling  their  kettles;  but  the 
conscripts,  who  had  not  yet  learned  the  art  of  living 
while  on  a  campaign,  and  who  had  unfortunately 
already  eaten  all  their  bread,  as  will  happen  when 
one  is  twenty  years  old,  and  is  on  the  march  with  a 
good  appetite,  they  had  not  a  spoonful  of  anything. 

At  last  about  seven  o'clock  we  reached  the  camp. 
Zebede  came  to  meet  me  and  was  delighted  to  see 
me,  and  said,  "  What  have  you  brought,  Joseph? 
We  have  found  a  fat  kid  and  we  have  some  salt,  but 
not  a  mouthful  of  bread." 

I  showed  him  the  rice  which  I  had  left,  and  my 
turnips  and  carrots. 

"  That's  good,"  said  he,  "  we  shall  have  the  best 
soup  in  the  battalion." 

I  wanted  Buche  to  eat  with  us  too,  and  the  six 
men  belonging  to  our  mess,  who  had  all  escaped  with 
only  bruises  and  scratches,  consented.  Padoue,  the 
drum-major,  said,  laughing,  "  Veterans  are  always 
veterans,  they  never  come  empty-handed." 

We  looked  into  the  kettles  of  the  five  conscripts, 
and  winked,  for  they  had  nothing  but  rice  and  water 
in  them,  while  we  had  a  good  rich  soup,  the  odor  of 
which  filled  the  air  around  us. 

At  eight  we  took  our  breakfast  with  an  appetite, 
as  you  can  imagine. 

Not  even  on  my  wedding-day  did  I  eat  a  better 
meal,  and  it  is  a  pleasure  even  now  to  think  of  it. 


WATERLOO 


249 


When  we  are  old  we  are  not  so  enthusiastic  about 
such  things  as  when  we  are  young,  but  still  we  al- 
ways recall  them  with  satisfaction. 

This  breakfast  sustained  us  a  long  time,  but  the 
poor  conscripts  with-  only  a  few  crumbs  as  it  were 
soaked  in  rain  water,  had  a  hard  time  next  day — the 
18th.  We  were  to  have  a  short  but  terrible  cam- 
paign. 

Though  all  is  over  now,  yet  I  cannot  think  of 
those  terrible  sufferings  without  emotion,  or  with- 
out thanking  God  that  we  escaped  them.  The  sun 
shone  again  and  the  weather  was  fine, — we  had  hard- 
ly finished  our  breakfast  when  the  drums  began  to 
beat  the  assembly  along  the  whole  line. 

The  Prussian  rear-guard  had  just  left  Sombref, 
and  it  was  a  question  whether  we  should  pursue 
them.  Some  said  we  ought  to  send  out  the  light- 
horse,  to  pick  up  the  prisoners.  But  no  one  paid 
any  attention  to  them, — the  Emperor  knew  what  he 
was  doing. 

But  I  remember  that  everybody  was  astonished 
notwithstanding,  because  it  is  the  custom  to  profit  by 
victories.  The  veterans  had  never  seen  anything 
like  it.  They  thought  that  the  Emperor  was  pre- 
paring some  grand  stroke;  that  Ney  had  turned  the 
enemy's  line,  and  so  forth. 

Meanwhile  the  roll  commenced  and  General 
Gerard  reviewed  the  Fourth  corps.  Our  battalion 


250  WATERLOO 

had  suffered  most,  because  in  the  three  attacks  we 
had  always  been  in  the  front. 

The  Commandant  Gemeau  and  Captain  Yidal 
were  wounded,  and  Captains  Gregoire  and  Vignot 
killed,  seven  lieutenants  and  second  lieutenants,  and 
three  hundred  and  sixty  men  hors  de  combat. 

Zebede  said  that  it  was  worse  than  at  Montmirail, 
and  that  they  would  finish  us  up  completely  before 
we  got  through. 

Fortunately  the  fourth  battalion  arrived  from 
Metz  under  Commandant  Delong  and  took  our  place 
in  the  line. 

Captain  Florentin  ordered  us  to  file  off  to  the  left, 
and  we  went  back  to  the  village  near  the  church, 
where  a  quantity  of  carts  were  stationed. 

We  were  then  distributed  in  squads  to  superin- 
tend the  removal  of  the  wounded.  Several  detach- 
ments of  chasseurs  were  ordered  to  escort  the  con- 
voys to  Fleurus  as  there  was  no  room  for  them  at 
Ligny;  the  church  was  already  filled  with  the  poor 
fellows.  We  did  not  select  those  to  be  removed,  the 
surgeons  did  that,  as  we  could  hardly  distinguish  in 
numbers  of  cases,  between  the  living  and  the  dead. 
We  only  laid  them  on  the  straw  in  the  carts. 

I  knew  how  all  this  was,  for  I  was  at  Lutzen,  and 
I  understand  what  a  man  suffers  in  recovering  from 
a  ball,  or  a  musket-shot,  or  such  a  cut  as  our  cuiras- 
siers made. 


WATERLOO 

Every  time  I  saw  one  of  these  men  taken  up,  I 
thanked  God  that  I  was  not  reduced  to  that  condi- 
tion, and,  thinking  that  the  same  thing  might  befall 
me,  I  said  to  myself:  "  You  do  not  know  how  many 
balls  and  slugs  have  been  near  you,  or  you  would  be 
horrified."  I  was  astonished  that  so  many  of  us  had 
escaped  in  the  carnage,  which  had  been  far  greater 
than  at  Lutzen  or  even  at  Leipzig.  The  battle  had 
only  lasted  five  hours,  and  the  dead  in  many  places 
were  piled  two  or  three  feet  deep.  The  blood  flowed 
from  under  them  in  streams.  Through  the  princi- 
pal street  where  the  artillery  went,  the  mud  was  red 
with  blood,  and  the  mud  itself  was  crushed  flesh  and 
bones. 

It  is  necessary  to  tell  you  this,  in  order  that  the 
young  men  may  understand.  I  shall  fight  no  more, 
thank  God,  I  am  too  old,  but  all  these  young  men 
who  think  of  nothing  but  war,  instead  of  being  in- 
dustrious and  helping  their  aged  parents,  should 
know  how  the  soldiers  are  treated.  Let  them  im- 
agine what  the  poor  fellows  who  have  done  their 
duty  think,  as  they  lie  in  the  street,  wanting  an  arm 
or  a  leg,  and  hear  the  cannon,  weighing  twelve  or 
fifteen  thousand  pounds,  coming  with  their  big  well- 
shod  horses,  plunging  and  neighing. 

Then  it  is  that  they  will  recall  their  old  parents 
who  embraced  them  in  their  own  village,  while  they 
went  off  saying: 


252  WATERLOO 

"  I  am  going,  but  I  shall  return  with  the  cross  of 
honor,  and  with  my  epaulettes." 

Yes,  indeed!  if  they  could  weep  and  ask  God's 
pardon,  we  should  hear  their  cries  and  complaints, 
but  there  is  no  time  for  that;  the  cannon  and  the 
caissons  with  their  freight  of  bombs  and  bullets  ar- 
rive— and  they  can  hear  their  own  bones  crack  be- 
forehand— and  all  pass  right  over  their  bodies,  just 
as  they  do  through  the  mud. 

When  we  are  old,  and  think  that  such  horrible 
things  may  happen  to  the  children  we  love,  we  feel 
as  if  we  would  part  with  the  last  sou  before  we  would 
allow  them  to  go. 

But  all  this  does  no  good,  bad  men  cannot  be 
changed,  while  good  ones  must  do  their  duty,  and  if 
misfortune  comes,  their  confidence  in  the  justice  of 
God  remains.  Such  men  do  not  destroy  their  fel- 
lows from  the  love  of  glory,  they  are  forced  to  do  so, 
they  have  nothing  with  which  to  reproach  them- 
selves, they  defend  their  own  lives  and  the  blood 
which  is  shed  is  not  on  their  hands. 

But  I  must  finish  my  story  of  the  battle  and  the 
removal  of  the  wounded. 

I  saw  sights  there  which  are  incredible  ;  men 
killed  in  a  moment  of  fury,  whose  faces  had  not 
lost  their  horrible  expression,  still  held  their  mus- 
kets in  their  hands  and  stood  upright  against  the 
walls,  and  you  could  almost  hear  them  cry,  as  they 


WATERLOO 


253 


stared  with  glazed  eyes,  "  To  the  bayonet !  No 
quarter!  " 

It  was  with  this  thought  and  this  cry  that  they 
appeared  before  God.  He  was  awaiting  them,  and 
He  may  have  said  to  them,  "  Here  am  I.  Thou 
killest  thy  brethren — thou  givest  no  quarter?  None 
shall  be  given  thee !  " 

I  have  seen  others  mortally  wounded  strangling 
each  other.  At  Fleurus  we  were  obliged  to  separate 
the  French  and  the  Prussians,  because  they  would 
rise  from  their  beds,  or  their  bundles  of  straw,  to  tear 
each  other  to  pieces.  Ah!  war!  those  who  wish  for 
it,  and  those  who  make  men  like  ferocious  beasts, 
will  have  a  terrible  account  to  settle  above. 


XX 

THE  removal  of  the  wounded  continued  until 
night.  About  noon  shouts  of  Vive  VEmpereur  ex- 
tended along  the  whole  line  of  our  bivouac  from  the 
village  of  Bry  to  Sombref.  Napoleon  had  left 
Fleurus  with  his  staff  and  had  passed  in  review  the 
whole  army  on  the  plateau.  These  shouts  continued 
for  an  hour,  and  then  all  was  quiet  and  the  army  took 
up  its  march. 

We  waited  a  long  time  for  the  orders  to  follow, 
but  as  they  did  not  come,  Captain  Florentin  went  to 
see  what  was  the  matter,  and  came  back  at  full  speed 
shouting,  "  Beat  the  assembly !  "  The  detach- 
ments of  the  battalion  joined  each  other  and  we 
passed  through  the  village  at  a  quick  step. 

All  had  left,  many  other  squads  had  received  no 
orders,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  St.  Amand  the  streets 
were  full  of  soldiers. 

Several  companies  remained  behind,  and  reached 
the  -road  by  crossing  the  fields  on  the  left,  where  we 
could  see  the  rear  of  the  column  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  reach — caissons,  wagons,  and  baggage  of 
every  sort. 

I  have  often  thought  that  we  might  have  been  left 
254 


WATERLOO  255 

behind,  as  Gerard's  division  was  at  St.  Amand,  and 
nobody  could  have  blamed  us,  as  we  followed  our 
orders  to  pick  up  the  wounded,  but  Captain  Floren- 
tin  would  have  thought  himself  dishonored. 

We  hurried  forward  as  fast  as  possible.  It  had 
commenced  to  rain  again  and  we  slipped  in  the  mud 
and  darkness.  I  never  saw  worse  weather,  not  even 
at  the  retreat  from  Leipzig  when  we  were  in  Ger- 
many. The  rain  came  down  as  if  from  a  watering 
pot,  and  we  tramped  on  with  our  guns  under  our 
arms  with  the  cape  of  our  cloaks  over  the  locks,  so 
wet  that  if  we  had  been  through  a  river  it  could  not 
have  been  worse;  and  such  mud!  With  all  this  we 
began  to  feel  the  want  of  food.  Buche  kept 
saying : 

"  Well !  a  dozen  big  potatoes  roasted  in  the  ashes 
as  we  do  at  Harberg  would  rejoice  my  eyes.  We 
don't  eat  meat  every  day  at  home,  but  we  always 
have  potatoes." 

I  thought  of  our  warm  little  room  at  Pf  alzbourg, 
the  table  with  its  white  cloth,  Father  Goulden  with 
his  plate  before  him,  while  Catherine  served  the  rich 
hot  soup  and  the  smoked  cutlets  on  the  gridiron. 
My  present  sufferings  and  troubles  overwhelmed 
me,  and  if  wishing  for  death  only  had  been  neces- 
sary to  rid  me  of  them,  I  should  have  long  ago  been 
out  of  this  world. 

The  night  was  dark,  and  if  it  had  not  been  for  the 


256  WATERLOO 

ruts,  into  which  we  plunged  to  our  knees  at  every 
step,  we  should  have  found  it  difficult  to  keep  the 
road;  as  it  was,  we  had  only  to  march  in  the  mud  to 
be  sure  we  were  right. 

Between  seven  and  eight  o'clock  we  heard  in  the 
distance  something  like  thunder.  Some  said:  "  It 
is  a  thunder-storm!  "  others,  "  It  is  cannon!  " 

Great  numbers  of  disbanded  soldiers  were  follow- 
ing us. 

At  eight  o'clock  we  reached  Quatre-Bras.  There 
are  two  houses  opposite  each  other  at  the  intersec- 
tion of  the  road  from  Nivelles  to  Namur  with  that 
from  Brussels  to  Charleroi.  They  were  both  full  of 
wounded  men.  It  was  here  that  Marshal  ISTey  had 
given  battle  to  the  English,  to  prevent  them  from 
going  to  the  support  of  the  Prussians  along  the  road 
by  which  we  had  just  come.  He  had  but  twenty 
thousand  men  against  forty  thousand,  and  yet 
Nicholas  Clouticr,  the  tanner,  maintains  to-day 
even,  that  he  ought  to  have  sent  half  his  troops  to 
attack  the  Prussian  rear,  as  if  it  were  not  enough  to 
stop  the  English. 

To  such  people  everything  is  easy,  but  if  they 
were  in  command,  it  would  be  easy  to  rout  them 
with  four  men  and  a  corporal. 

Below  us  the  barley  and  oat  fields  were  full  of 
dead  men.  It  was  then  that  I  saw  the  first  red-coats 
stretched  out  in  the  road. 


WATERLOO 


257 


The  captain  ordered  us  to  halt,  and  he  went  into 
the  house  at  the  right.  We  waited  for  some  time  in 
the  rain,  when  he  came  out  with  Dauzelot,  general 
of  the  division,  who  was  laughing,  because  we  had 
not  followed  Grouchy  toward  Namur;  the  want  of 
orders  had  compelled  us  to  turn  off  to  Quatre-Bras. 
Notwithstanding,  we  received  orders  to  continue  our 
march  without  stopping. 

I  thought  I  should  drop  every  moment  from 
weakness,  but  it  was  worse  still  when  we  overtook 
the  baggage,  for  then  we  were  obliged  to  march  on 
the  sides  of  the  road,  and  the  farther  from  it  we  went 
the  more  deeply  we  sank  in  the  soft  soil. 

About  eleven  o'clock  we  reached  a  large  village 
called  Genappe,  which  lies  on  both  sides  of  the 
route. 

The  crowd  of  wagons,  cannon,  and  baggage  was 
so  great  that  we  were  forced  to  turn  to  the  right  and 
cross  the  Thy  by  a  bridge,  and  from  this  point  we 
continued  to  march  through  the  fields  of  grain  and 
hemp,  like  savages  who  respect  nothing.  The  night 
was  so  dark  that  the  mounted  dragoons,  who  were 
placed  at  intervals  of  two  hundred  paces  like 
guide-posts,  kept  shouting,  "  This  way,  this 
way!  " 

About  midnight  we  reached  a  sort  of  farm-house 
thatched  with  straw,  which  was  filled  with  superior 
officers.  It  was  not  far  from  the  main  road,  as  we 

»7 


258  WATERLOO 

could  hear  the  cavalry  and  artillery  and  baggage 
wagons  rushing  by  like  a  torrent. 

The  captain  had  hardly  got  into  the  house,  when 
we  jumped  over  the  hedge  into  the  garden.  I  did 
like  the  rest,  and  snatched  what  I  could.  Nearly 
the  whole  battalion  followed  this  example  in  spite  of 
the  shouts  of  the  officers,  and  each  one  began  dig- 
ging up  what  he  could  find  with  his  bayonet.  In 
two  minutes  there  was  nothing  left.  The  sergeants 
and  corporals  were  with  us,  but  when  the  captain  re- 
turned we  had  all  regained  our  ranks. 

Those  who  pillage  and  steal  on  a  campaign  ought 
to  be  shot;  but  what  could  you  do?  There  was  not 
a  quarter  enough  food  in  the  towns  through  which 
we  passed  to  supply  such  numbers.  The  English 
had  already  taken  nearly  everything.  We  had  a 
little  rice  left,  but  rice  without  meat  is  not  very 
strengthening. 

The  English  troops  received  sheep  and  beeves 
from  Brussels,  they  were  well  fed  and  glowing  with 
health.  We  had  come  too  late,  the  convoys  of  sup- 
plies were  belated,  and  the  next  day  when  the  ter- 
rible battle  of  Waterloo  was  fought  the  only  ration 
we  received  was  brandy. 

We  left  the  village,  and  on  mounting  a  little  ele- 
vation we  perceived  the  English  pickets  through  the 
rain.  We  were  ordered  to  take  a  position  in  the 
grain  fields  with  several  regiments  which  we  could 


WATERLOO  259 

not  see,  and  not  to  light  our  fires  for  fear  of  alarming 
the  English,  if  they  should  discover  us  in  line,  and  so 
induce  them  to  continue  their  retreat. 

"Now  just  imagine  us  lying  in  the  grain  under  a 
pouring  rain  like  regular  gypsies,  shivering  with 
cold  and  bent  on  destroying  our  fellows,  and  happy 
in  having  a  turnip  or  a  radish  to  keep  up  our 
strength  and  tell  me  if  that  is  the  kind  of  life  for 
honest  people.  Is  it  for  that,  that  God  has  created 
us  and  put  us  in  the  world?  Is  it  not  abominable 
that  a  king  or  an  emperor,  instead  of  watching  over 
the  affairs  of  the  state,  encouraging  commerce,  and 
instructing  the  people  in  the  principles  of  liberty 
and  giving  good  examples,  should  reduce  us  to  such 
a  condition  as  that  by. hundreds  of  thousands.  I 
know  very  well  that  this  is  called  glory,  but  the  peo- 
ple are  very  stupid  to  glorify  such  men  as  those. 
Yes,  indeed,  they  must  have  first  lost  all  sense  of 
right,  all  heart,  and  all  religion! 

But  all  this  did  not  prevent  my  teeth  from  chat- 
tering, or  from  seeing  the  English  in  our  front 
warming  and  enjoying  themselves  around  their  good 
fires,  after  receiving  their  rations  of  beef,  brandy, 
and  tobacco.  And  I  thought,  "  It  is  we  poor  devils, 
drenched  to  our  very  marrow,  who  are  to  be  com- 
pelled to  attack  these  fellows  who  are  full  of  con- 
fidence, and  want  neither  cannon  nor  supplies,  who 
sleep  with  their  feet  to  the  fire,  with  their  stomachs 


260  WATERLOO 

well  lined,  while  we  must  lie  here  in  the  mud."  I 
was  indignant  the  whole  night.  Buche  would  say : 

"  I  do  not  care  for  the  rain,  I  have  been  through 
many  a  worse  one  when  on  the  watch;  but  then  I 
had  at  least  a  crust  of  bread  and  some  onions  and 
salt." 

I  was  quite  absorbed  with  my  own  troubles  and 
said  nothing,  but  he  was  angry. 

The  rain  ceased  between  two  and  three  in  the 
morning.  Buche  and  I  were  lying  back  to  back  in  a 
furrow,  in  order  to  keep  warm,  and  at  last  overcome 
by  fatigue  I  fell  asleep. 

When  I  woke  about  five  in  the  morning,  the 
church  bells  were  ringing  matins  over  all  that  vast 
plain. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  scene;  and  as  I  looked 
at  the  gray  sky,  the  trampled  grain,  and  my  sleeping 
comrades  on  the  right  and  left,  my  heart  sunk  tinder 
the  sense  of  desolation.  The  sound  of  the  bells  as 
they  responded  to  each  other  from  Planchenois  to 
Genappe,  from  Frichemont  to  Waterloo,  reminded 
me  of  Pfalzbourg,  and  I  thought: 

"  To-day  is  Sunday,  the  day  of  rest  and  peace. 
Mr.  Goulden  has  hung  his  best  coat,  with  a  white 
shirt,  on  the  back  of  his  chair.  He  is  getting  up 
now  and  he  is  thinking  of  me ;  Catherine  has  risen 
too  and  is  sitting  crying  on  the  bed,  and  Aunt  Gredel 
at  Quatre  Yents  is  pushing  open  the  shutters  and 


WATERLOO 

she  has  taken  her  prayer-book  from  the  shelf  and  is 
going  to  mass."  I  could  hear  the  bells  of  Dann  and 
Mittelbronn  and  Bigelberg  ring  out  in  the  silence. 
I  thought  of  that  peaceful  quiet  life  and  was  ready 
to  burst  into  tears. 

The  roll  of  the  drums  was  heard  through  the 
damp  air,  and  there  was  something  inauspicious  and 
portentous  in  the  sound. 

Near  the  main  road,  on  the  left,  they  were  beating 
the  assembly,  and  the  bugles  of  the  cavalry  sounded 
the  reveille.  The  men  rose  and  looked  over  the 
grain.  Those  three  days  of  marching  and  fighting 
in  the  bad  weather  without  rations  made  them  sober; 
there  was  no  talking  as  at  Ligny,  every  one  looked 
in  silence  and  kept  his  thoughts  to  himself. 

We  could  see  too,  that  the  battle  was  to  be  a  much 
more  important  affair,  for  instead  of  having  villages 
already  occupied,  which  caused  so  many  separate 
battles,  on  our  front,  there  was  an  immense  elevated 
naked  plain  on  which  the  English  were  encamped. 

Behind  their  lines  at  the  top  of  the  hill  was  the 
village  of  Mont-St.-Jean,  and  a  league  and  a  half 
still  farther  away,  was  a  forest  which  bounded  the 
horizon. 

Between  us  and  the  English,  the  ground  descend- 
ed gently  and  rose  again  nearest  us,  forming  a  little 
valley,  but  one  must  have  been  accustomed  to  the 
country  to  perceive  this;  it  was  deepest  on  the  right 


262  WATERLOO 

and  contracted  like  a  ravine.  On  the  slope  of  this 
ravine  on  our  side,  behind  the  hedges  and  poplars 
and  other  trees,  some  thatched  roofs  indicated  a  ham- 
let; this  was  Planchenois.  In  the  same  direction 
but  much  higher,  and  in  the  rear  of  the  enemy's  left, 
the  plain  extended  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  and 
was  scattered  over  with  little  villages. 

The  clear  atmosphere  after  the  storm  enabled  us 
to  distinguish  all  this  very  plainly. 

We  could  even  see  the  little  village  of  Saint-Lam- 
bert three  leagues  distant  on  our  right. 

At  our  left  in  the  rear  of  the  English  right,  there 
were  other  little  villages  to  be  seen,  of  which  I  never 
knew  the  names. 

We  took  in  all  this  grand  region  covered  with  a 
magnificent  crop  just  in  flower,  at  a  glance;  and  we 
asked  ourselves  why  the  English  were  there,  and 
what  advantage  they  had  in  guarding  that  position. 
But  when  we  observed  their  line  a  little  more  closely 
— it  was  from  fifteen  hundred  to  two  thousand  yards 
from  us — we  could  see  the  broad,  well-paved  road, 
which  we  had  followed  from  Quatre-Bras  and  which 
led  to  Brussels,  dividing  their  position  nearly  in  the 
centre.  It  was  straight,  and  we  could  follow  it  with 
the  eye  to  the  village  of  Mont-St.-Jean  and  be- 
yond quite  to  the  entrance  of  the  forest  of  Soignes. 
This  we  saw  the  English  intended  to  hold  to  prevent 
us  from  going  to  Brussels. 


WATERLOO  263 

On  looking  carefully  we  could  see  that  their  line 
of  battle  was  curved  a  little  toward  us  at  the  wings, 
and  that  it  followed  a  road  which  cut  the  route  to 
Brussels  like  a  cross.  On  the  left  it  was  a  deep  cut, 
and  on  the  right  of  the  road  it  was  bordered  with 
thick  hedges  of  holly  and  dwarf  beech  which  are 
common  in  that  country.  Behind  these  were  post- 
ed mass  of  red-coats  who  watched  us  from  their 
trenches.  In  the  front,  the  slope  was  like  a  glacis. 
This  was  very  dangerous. 

Immense  bodies  of  cavalry  were  stationed  on  the 
flanks,  which  extended  nearly  three-quarters  of  a 
league. 

We  saw  that  the  cavalry  on  the  plateau  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  main  road  after  having  passed  the 
hill,  descended  before  going  to  Mont-St.-Jean, 
and  we  understood  that  there  was  a  hollow  be- 
tween the  position  of  the  English  and  that  vil- 
lage; not  very  deep,  as  we  could  see  the  plumes 
of  the  soldiers  as  they  passed  through,  but  stilL 
deep  enough  to  shelter  heavy  reserves  from  our 
bullets. 

I  had  already  seen  "Weissenfels,  Lutzen,  Leipzig, 
and  Ligny,  and  I  began  to  understand  what  these 
things  meant,  and  why  they  arranged  themselves  in 
one  way  rather  than  another,  and  I  thought  that  the 
manner  in  which  these  English  had  laid  their  plans 
and  stationed  their  forces  on  this  cross-road  to  defend 


264  WATERLOO 

the  road  to  Brussels,  and  to  shelter  their  reserves, 
showed  a  vast  deal  of  good  sense. 

But  in  spite  of  all  that,  three  things  seemed  to  me 
to  be  in  our  favor.  The  position  of  the  enemy  with 
its  covered  ways  and  hidden  reserves  was  like  a  great 
fort.  Every  one  knows  that  in  time  of  war  every- 
thing is  demolished  that  can  furnish  a  shelter  to  the 
enemy. 

Well!  just  in  their  centre,  on  the  high-road  and 
on  the  slope  of  their  glacis,  was  a  farm-house  like  the 
"  Roulette  "  at  Quatre  Vents,  but  five  or  six  times 
larger. 

I  could  see  it  plainly  from  where  we  stood.  It 
was  a  great  square,  the  offices,  the  house,  the  stables 
and  barns  formed  a  triangle  on  the  side  toward  the 
English,  and  on  our  side  the  other  half  was  formed 
by  a  wall  and  sheds,  with  a  court  in  the  centre.  The 
wall  running  along  the  field  side,  had  a  small  door, 
the  other  on  the  road  had  an  entrance  for  carriages 
and  wagons. 

It  was  built  of  brick  and  was  very  solid.  Of 
course  the  English  had  filled  it  with  troops  like  a 
sort  of  demilune,  but  if  we  could  take  it  we  should 
be  close  to  their  centre  and  could  throw  our  attack- 
ing columns  upon  them,  without  remaining  long  un- 
der their  fire. 

Nothing  could  be  better  for  us.  This  place  was 
called  Haie-Sainte,  as  we  found  out  afterward. 


WATERLOO  265 

A  little  farther  on,  in  front  of  their  right  wing  was 
another  little  farmstead  and  grove,  which  we  could 
also  try  to  take.  I  could  not  see  it  from  where  I 
stood,  but  it  was  a  stronger  position  than  Haie-Sainte 
as  it  was  covered  by  an  orchard,  surrounded  with 
walls,  and  farther  on  was  the  wood.  The  fire  from 
the  windows  swept  the  garden,  and  that  from  the 
garden  covered  the  wood,  and  that  from  the  wood 
the  side-hill,  and  the  enemy  could  beat,  a  retreat  from 
one  to  the  other. 

I  did  not  see  this  with  my  own  eyes,  but  some  vet- 
erans gave  me  an  account  of  the  attack  on  this  farm; 
it  was  called  Hougoumont. 

One  must  be  exact  in  speaking  of  such  a  battle, 
the  things  seen  with  one's  own  eyes  are  the  princi- 
pal, and  we  can  say: 

"  I  saw  them,  but  the  other  accounts  I  had  from 
men  incapable  of  falsehood  or  deception." 

And  lastly  in  front  of  their  left  wing  on  the  road 
leading  to  Wavre,  about  a  hundred  paces  from  the 
hill  on  our  side,  were  the  farms  of  Papelotte  and 
La  Haye,  occupied  by  the  Germans,  and  the  little 
hamlets  of  Smohain,  Cheval-de-Bois,  and  Jean-Loo, 
which  I  informed  myself  about  afterward  in  order 
to  understand  all  that  took  place.  I  could  see  these 
hamlets  plainly  enough  then,  but  I  did  not  pay 
much  attention  to  them  as  they  were  beyond  our  line 
of  battle  on  the  right,  and  we  did  not  see  any  troops 
there. 


266  WATERLOO 

ISTow  you  can  all  see  the  position  of  the  English 
on  our  front,  the  road  to  Brussels  which  traversed  it, 
the  cross-road  which  covered  it,  the  plateau  in  the 
rear  where  the  reserves  were,  and  the  three  farms, 
Hougoumont,  Haie-Sainte,  and  Papelotte  in  front, 
well  garrisoned.  You  can  all  see  that  it  would  be 
very  difficult  to  force. 

I  looked  at  it  about  six  o'clock  that  morning  very 
attentively,  as  a  man  will  do  who  is  to  run  the  risk 
of  breaking  his  bones  and  losing  his  life  in  some 
enterprise,  and  who  at  least  likes  to  know  if  he  has 
any  chance  of  escape. 

Zebede,  Sergeant  Rabot,  and  Captain  Florentin, 
Buche,  and  indeed  every  one  as  he  rose  cast  a  glance 
at  that  hill-side  without  saying  a  word.  Then  they 
looked  around  them  at  the  great  squares  of  infantry, 
the  squadrons  of  cuirassiers,  of  dragoons,  chasseurs, 
lancers,  etc.,  encamped  amid  the  growing  grain. 

Nobody  had  any  fears  now  that  the  English 
would  beat  a  retreat,  we  lighted  as  many  fires  as  we 
pleased,  and  the  smoke  from  the  damp  straw  filled 
the  air.  Those  who  had  a  little  rice  left,  put  on 
their  camp-kettles,  while  those  who  had  none  looked 
on  thinking : 

"  Each  has  his  turn;  yesterday  we  had  meat,  and 
we  despised  the  rice,  now  we  should  be  very  grate- 
ful for  even  that." 

About  eight  o'clock  the  wagons  arrived  with  car- 


WATERLOO  267 

fridges  and  hogsheads  of  brandy;  each  soldier  re- 
ceived a  double  ration:  with  a  crust  of  bread  we 
might  have  done  very  well,  but  the  bread  was  not 
there.  You  can  imagine  what  sort  of  humor  we 
were  in. 

This  was  all  we  had  that  day:  immediately  after, 
the  grand  movements  commenced.  Regiments 
joined  their  brigades,  brigades  their  divisions,  and 
the  divisions  re-formed  their  corps.  Officers  on 
horseback  carried  orders  back  and  forth,  everything 
was  in  motion. 

Our  battalion  joined  Donzelot's  division;  the  oth- 
ers had  only  eight  battalions,  but  his  had  nine. 

I  have  often  heard  the  veterans  repeat  the  order 
of  battle  given  by  Napoleon.  The  corps  of  Reille 
was  on  the  left  of  the  road  opposite  Hougoumont, 
that  of  d'Erlon,  at  the  right,  opposite  Haie-Sainte; 
Key  on  horseback  on  the  highway,  and  Napoleon  in 
the  rear  with  the  Old  Guard,  the  special  detach- 
ments, the  lancers  and  chasseurs,  etc.  That  was  all 
that  I  understood,  for  when  they  began  to  talk  of  the 
movements  of  eleven  columns,  of  the  distance  which 
they  deployed,  and  when  they  named  the  generals 
one  after  another,  it  seemed  to  me  as  if  they  were 
talking  of  something  which  I  had  never  seen. 

I  like  better  therefore  to  tell  you  simply  what  I 
saw  and  remember  myself. 

The  first  movement  was  at  half-past  eight,  when 


268  WATERLOO 

our  four  divisions  received  the  order  to  take  the  ad- 
vance to  the  right  of  the  highway.  There  were 
about  fifteen  or  twenty  thousand  men  marching  in 
two  columns,  with  arms  at  will,  sinking  to  our  knees 
at  every  step  in  the  soft  ground.  Nobody  spoke  a 
word. 

Several  persons  have  related  that  we  were  jubi- 
lant and  were  all  singing;  but  it  is  false.  Marching 
all  night  without  rations,  sleeping  in  the  water,  for- 
bidden to  light  a  fire,  when  preparing  for  showers  of 
grape  and  canister,  all  this  took  away  any  inclination 
to  sing,  we  were  glad  to  pull  our  shoes  out  of  the 
holes  in  which  they  were  buried  at  every  step,  and 
chilled  and  drenched  to  our  waists  by  the  wet  grain, 
the  hardiest  and  most  courageous  among  us  wore  a 
discontented  air.  It  is  true  that  the  bands  played 
marches  for  their  regiments,  that  the  trumpets  of  the 
cavalry,  the  drums  of  the  infantry,  and  the  trom- 
bones mingled  their  tones  and  produced  a  terrible 
effect,  as  they  do  always. 

It  is  also  true  that  these  thousands  of  men 
marched  briskly  and  in  good  order,  with  their  knap- 
sacks at  their  backs,  and  their  muskets  on  their  shoul- 
ders, the  white  lines  of  the  cuirassiers  followed  the 
red,  brown,  and  green  of  the  dragoons,  hussars,  and 
lancers,  with  their  little  swallow-tailed  pennons  fill- 
ing the  air;  the  artillerymen  in  the  intervals  be- 
tween the  brigades,  on  horseback  around  their  guns, 


WATERLOO  269 

which  cut  through  the  ground  to  their  axles, — all 
these  moved  straight  through  the  grain,  not  a  head 
of  which  remained  standing  behind  them,  and  truly 
there  could  not  be  a  sight  more  dreadful. 

The  English  drawn  up  in  perfect  order  in  front, 
their  gunners  ready  with  their  lighted  matches  in 
their  hands,  made  us  think,  but  did  not  delight  us 
quite  so  much  as  some  have  pretended,  and  men  who 
like  to  receive  cannon-balls  are  still  rather  rare. 

Father  Goulden  told  me  that  the  soldiers  sang  in 
his  time,  but  then  they  went  voluntarily  and  not 
from  force.  They  fought  in  defence  of  their  homes 
and  for  human  rights,  which  they  loved  better  than 
their  own  eyes,  and  it  was  not  at  all  like  risking  our 
lives  to  find  out  whether  we  were  to  have  an  old  or  a 
new  nobility.  As  for  me,  I  never  heard  any  one 
sing  either  at  Leipzig  or  Waterloo. 

On  we  went,  the  bands  still  playing  by  order  from 
head-quarters. 

The  music  ceased,  and  the  silence  which  followed 
was  profound.  Then  we  were  at  the  edge  of  the  lit- 
tle valley,  and  about  twelve  hundred  paces  from  the 
English  left.  We  were  in  the  centre  of  our  army, 
with  the  chasseurs  and  lancers  on  our  right  flank. 

We  took  our  distances  and  closed  up  the  intervals. 
The  first  brigade  of  the  first  division  turned  to  the 
left  and  formed  on  the  highway.  Our  battalion 
formed  a  part  of  the  second  division,  and  we  were 


270  WATERLOO 

in  the  first  line,  with  a  single  brigade  of  the  first 
division  before  us.  The  artillery  was  passed  up  to 
the  front,  and  that  of  the  English  was  directly  op- 
posite and  on  the  same  level.  And  for  a  long  time 
the  other  divisions  were  moving  up  to  support  us. 
It  seemed  as  if  the  earth  itself  was  in  motion.  The 
veterans  would  say:  "  There  are  Milhaud's  cuiras- 
siers! Here  are  the  chasseurs  of  Lefebvre-Des- 
noettes!  Yonder  is  Lobau's  corps!  " 

On  every  side,  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  there 
was  nothing  to  be  seen  but  cuirasses,  helmets,  col- 
backs,*  sabres,  lances,  and  files  of  bayonets. 

"  What  a  battle,"  exclaimed  Buche.  "  Woe  to 
the  English!" 

I  had  the  same  thought;  I  did  not  believe  a  single 
Englishman  would  escape.  But  it  was  we  who  were 
unfortunate  that  day,  though  had  it  not  been  for  the 
Prussians  I  still  believe  we  should  have  extermi- 
nated them. 

During  the  two  hours  we  stood  there,  we  did  not 
see  the  half  of  our  regiments  and  squadrons,  and  new 
ones  were  continually  coming.  About  an  hour  af- 
ter we  took  our  position  we  heard  suddenly  on  the 
left,  shouts  of  "  Vive  1'Empereur,"  they  increased 
as  they  approached  us  like  a  tempest;  we  all  stood 
on  our  tiptoes  and  stretched  our  necks  to  see;  they 
spread  through  all  the  ranks,  and  even  the  horses  in 
*  Military  caps  of  bear-skin. 


WATERLOO 


271 


the  rear  neighed  as  if  they  would  shout  too.  At 
that  moment  a  troop  of  general  officers  whirled 
along  our  front  like  the  wind.  Napoleon  was 
among  them,  and  I  thought  I  saw  him,  though  I  was 
not  certain,  he  went  so  swiftly,  and  so  many  men 
raised  their  shakos  en  the  points  of  their  bayonets 
that  I  hardly  had  time  to  distinguish  his  round  shoul- 
ders and  gray  coat  in  the  midst  of  the  laced  uni- 
forms. When  the  captain  had  shouted,  "  Carry 
arms !  present  arms !  "  it  was  over. 

We  saw  him  in  this  way  every  day,  at  least  when 
we  were  on  guard. 

After  he  had  passed,  the  shouts  continued  along 
our  right  farther  and  farther  away,  and  we 
all  thought  the  battle  would  begin  in  twenty 
minutes. 

But  we  were  obliged  to  wait  a  long  time  and  we 
grew  impatient.  The  conscripts  in  d'Erlon's  corps, 
who  were  not  in  battle  the  day  before,  began  to  shout 
"  Forward !  "  At  last,  about  noon,  the  cannon 
thundered  on  the  left  and  were  followed  by  the  fire 
from  the  battalion  and  then  the  file.  We  could  see 
nothing,  for  it  was  on  the  other  side  of  the  road. 
The  attack  had  commenced  on  Hougoumont.  Im- 
mediately shouts  of  "  Vive  1'Empereur  "  broke  out. 
The  cannoneers  of  our  four  divisions  were  standing 
the  whole  length  of  the  hill-side,  at  twenty  paces 
from  each  other.  At  the  discharge  of  the  first  gun, 


272  WATERLOO 

they  all  commenced  to  load  at  once.  I  see  them 
still,  as  they  put  in  the  charge,  ram  it  home,  raise  up, 
and  shake  out  their  matches  as  by  a  single  move- 
ment. This  made  us  shiver.  The  captains  of  the 
guns,  nearly  all  old  officers,  stood  behind  their  pieces 
and  gave  orders  as  if  on  parade;  and  when  the  whole 
twenty-four  guns  went  off  together,  the  report  was 
deafening,  and  the  whole  valley  was  covered  with 
smoke. 

At  the  end  of  a  second,  we  heard  the  calm  voices 
of  these  veterans  above  the  whistling  in  our  ears  say- 
ing "  Load !  take  aim !  fire !  "  And  that  continued 
without  interruption  for  half  an  hour.  We  could 
see  nothing  at  all,  but  the  English  had  opened  their 
fire,  and  we  heard  their  bullets  scream  in  the  air  and 
strike  with  a  dull  sound  in  the  mud;  and  then  we 
could  hear  another  sound  too,  that  of  the  muskets 
striking  against  each  other,  and  the  sound  of  the 
bodies  of  wounded  men  as  they  were  thrown  like 
boneless  sacks  twenty  paces  in  the  rear,  or  sank  in 
a  heap  with  a  leg  or  an  arm  wanting.  All  this  min- 
gled with  the  dull  rumbling;  the  destruction  had 
commenced. 

The  groans  of  the  wounded  mingled  also  with 
these  sounds,  and  with  the  fierce  terrible  neighing 
of  the  horses,  which  are  naturally  ferocious,  and  de- 
light in  slaughter.  We  could  hear  this  tumult  half 
a  league  in  the  rear;  and  it  was  with  great  difficulty 


WATERLOO  273 

the  animals  could  be  restrained  from  setting  off  to 
join  in  the  battle. 

For  a  long  time  we  had  been  able  to  see  nothing 
but  the  shadows  of  the  gunners  as  they  manceuvred 
in  the  smoke,  on  the  border  of  the  ravine,  when  we 
heard  the  order,  "  Cease  firing!  "     At  the  same  mo- 
ment we  heard  the  piercing  voices  of  the  colonels  of 
our  four  divisions  shout,    "  Close  up  the  ranks  for 
battle !  "     All  the  lines  approached  each  other. 
"  Now  it  is  our  turn,"  said  I  to  Buche. 
"  Yes,"  he  replied,  "  let  us  keep  together." 
The  smoke  from  our  guns  rose  up  into  the  air,  and 
then  we  could  see  the  batteries  of  the  English,  who 
still  continued  their  fire  all  along  the  hedges  which 
bordered  the  road. 

The  first  brigade  of  Alix's  division  advanced  at  a 
quick  step  along  the  road  leading  to  Haie-Sainte. 
In  the  rear  I  recognized  Marshal  Ney  with  several 
of  the  officers  of  his  staff. 

From  every  window  of  the  farm-house,  and  from 
the  garden,  and  walls  which  had  been  pierced  with 
holes,  came  fiery  showers,  and  at  every  step  men 
were  left  stretched  on  the  road.  General  Ney  on 
horseback  with  the  corners  of  his  great  hat  pointing 
over  his  shoulders,  watched  the  action  from  the  mid- 
dle of  the  road.  I  said  to  Buche : 

"  That  is  Marshal  Ney,  the  second  brigade  will  go 
to  support  the  first,  and  we  shall  come  next." 
18 


274 


WATERLOO 


But  I  mistook;  at  that  very  moment  the  first  bat- 
talion of  the  second  brigade  received  orders  to  march 
in  line  on  the  right  of  the  highway,  the  second  in  the 
rear  of  the  first,  the  third  behind  the  second,  and  the 
fourth  following  in  file. 

We  had  not  time  to  form  in  column,  but  we  were 
solidly  arrayed  after  all,  one  behind  the  other,  from 
one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred  men  in  line  in 
front,  the  captains  between  the  companies,  and  the 
commandants  between  the  battalions.  But  the  balls 
instead  of  carrying  off  two  men  at  a  time  would  now 
take  eight.  Those  in  the  rear  could  not  fire  because 
those  in  front  were  in  the  way  and  we  found  too 
that  we  could  not  form  in  squares.  That  should 
have  been  thought  of  beforehand,  but  was  over- 
looked in  the  desire  to  break  the  enemy's  line  and 
gain  all  at  a  blow. 

.  Our  division  marched  in  the  same  order:  as  the 
first  battalion  advanced,  the  second  followed  immedi- 
ately in  their  steps,  and  so  on  with  all  the  rest.  I 
•was  pleased  to  see,  that,  commencing  on  the  left,  we 
should  be  in  the  twenty-fifth  rank,  and  that  there 
must  be  terrible  slaughter  before  we  should  be 
reached. 

The  two  divisions  on  our  right  were  also  formed 
in  close  column,  at  three  hundred  paces  from  each 
other. 

Thus  we  descended  into  the  little  valley,  in  the 


WATERLOO  275 

face  of  the  English  fire.  "We  were  somewhat  de- 
layed by  the  soft  ground,  but  we  all  shouted,  "  To 
the  bayonet!  " 

As  we  mounted  on  the  other  side,  we  were  met  by 
a  hail  of  balls  from  above  the  road  at  the  left.  If  we 
had  not  been  so  crowded  together,  this  terrible  vol- 
ley would  have  checked  us.  The  charge  sounded 
and  the  officers  shouted,  "  Steady  on  the  left!  " 

But  this  terrible  fire  made  us  lengthen  our  right 
step  more  than  our  left,  in  spite  of  ourselves,  so  that 
when  we  neared  the  road  bordered  by  the  hedges,  we 
had  lost  our  distances  and  our  division  formed  a 
square,  so  to  speak,  with  the  third. 

Two  batteries  now  swept  our  ranks,  and  the  shot 
from  the  hedges  a  hundred  feet  distant  pierced  us 
through  and  through ;  a  cry  of  horror  burst  forth  and 
we  rushed  on  the  batteries,  overpowering  the  red- 
coats who  vainly  endeavored  to  stop  us. 

It  was  then  that  I  first  saw  the  English  close  at 
hand.  They  were  strong,  fair,  and  closely  shaved, 
like  well-to-do  bourgeois.  They  defended  them- 
selves bravely,  but  we  were  as  good  as  they.  It  was 
not  our  fault — the  common  soldiers — if  they  did  de- 
feat us  at  last,  all  the  world  knows  that  we  showed 
as  much  and  more  courage  than  they  did. 

It  has  been  said  that  we  were  not  the  soldiers  of 
Austerlitz  and  Jena,  of  Eriedland  and  of  Moskowa. 
It  was  because  they  were  so  good,  perhaps,  that  they 


276  WATERLOO 

were  spared.  We  would  have  asked  nothing  better, 
than  to  have  seen  them  in  our  place. 

Every  shot  of  the  English  told,  and  we  were 
forced  to  break  our  ranks.  Men  are  not  palisades, 
and  must  defend  themselves  when  attacked. 

Great  numbers  were  detached  from  their  com- 
panies, when  thousands  of  Englishmen  rose  up  from 
among  the  barley  and  fired,  their  muskets  almost 
touching  our  men,  which  caused  a  terrible  slaughter. 
The  other  ranks  rushed  to  the  support  of  their  com- 
rades, and  we  should  all  have  been  dispersed  over 
the  hill-side  like  a  swarm  of  ants,  if  we  had  not  heard 
the  shout,  "  Attention,  the  cavalry !  " 

Almost  at  the  same  instant,  a  crowd  of  red  dra- 
goons mounted  on  gray  horses,  swept  down  upon  us 
like  the  wind,  and  those  who  had  straggled  were  cut 
to  pieces  without  mercy. 

They  did  not  fall  upon  our  columns  in  order  to 
break  them,  they  were  too  deep  and  massive  for  that ; 
but  they  came  down  between  the  divisions,  slashing 
right  and  left  with  their  sabres,  and  spurring  their 
horses  into  the  flanks  of  the  columns  to  cut  them  in 
two,  and  though  they  could  not  succeed  in  this,  they 
killed  great  numbers  and  threw  us  into  confusion. 

It  was  one  of  the  most  terrible  moments  of  my 
life.  As  an  old  soldier  I  was  at  the  right  of  the  bat- 
talion, and  saw  what  they  were  intending  to  do. 
They  leaned  over  as  far  as  possible  when  they  passed, 


WATERLOO  277 

in  order  to  cut  into  our  ranks;  their  strokes  followed 
each  other  like  lightning,  and  more  than  twenty- 
times  I  thought  my  head  was  off  my  shoulders,  but 
Sergeant  Eabot  closed  the  file  fortunately  for  me; 
it  was  he  who  received  this  terrible  shower  of  blows, 
and  he  defended  himself  to  the  last  breath.  At 
every  stroke  he  shouted,  "  Cowards,  Cowards !  " 

His  blood  sprinkled  me  like  rain,  and  at  last  he 
fell.  My  musket  was  still  loaded,  and  seeing  one 
of  the  dragoons  coming  with  his  eye  fixed  on  me 
and  bending  over  to  give  me  a  thrust,  I  let  him  have 
it  full  in  the  breast.  This  was  the  only  man  I  ever 
saw  fall  under  my  fire. 

The  worst  was,  that  at  that  moment  their  foot- 
soldiers  rallied  and  recommenced  their  fire,  and  they 
even  were  so  bold  as  to  attack  us  with  the  bayonet. 
Only  the  first  two  ranks  made  a  stand.  It  was 
shameful  to  form  our  men  in  that  manner. 

Then  the  red  dragoons  and  our  columns  rushed 
pell-mell  down  the  hill  together. 

And  still  our  division  made  the  best  defence,  for 
we  brought  off  our  colors,  while  the  two  others  had 
lost  two  eagles. 

We  rushed  down  in  this  fashion  through  the  mud 
and  over  the  cannon,  which  had  been  brought  down 
to  support  us,  and  had  been  cut  loose  from  the 
horses  by  the  sabres  of  the  dragoons. 

"We  scattered  in  every  direction,  Buche  and  I  al- 


278  WATERLOO 

ways  keeping  together,  and  it  was  ten  minutes  be- 
fore we  could  be  rallied  again  near  the  road  in 
squads  from  all  the  regiments. 

Those  who  have  the  direction  of  affairs  in  war 
should  keep  such  examples  as  these  before  their 
eyes,  and  reflect  that  new  plans  cost  those  dear  who 
are  forced  to  try  them. 

We  looked  over  our  shoulders  as  we  took  breath, 
and  saw  the  red  dragoons  rushing  up  the  hill  to 
capture  our  principal  battery  of  twenty-four 
guns,  when,  thank  God!  their  turn  came  to  be 
massacred. 

The  Emperor  had  observed  our  retreat  from  a  dis- 
tance, and  as  the  dragoons  mounted  the  hill,  two 
regiments  of  cuirassiers  on  the  right,  and  a  regi- 
ment of  lancers  on  the  left  fell  on  their  flanks  like 
lightning,  and  before  they  had  time  to  look,  they 
were  upon  them.  We  could  hear  the  blows  slide 
over  their  cuirasses,  hear  their  horses  puff,  and  a 
hundred  paces  away  we  could  see  the  lances  rise  and 
fall,  the  long  sabres  stretch  out,  and  the  men  bend 
down  to  thrust  under;  the  furious  horses,  rearing, 
biting,  and  neighing  frightfully,  and  then  men 
under  the  horses'  feet  were  trying  to  get  up,  and 
sheltering  themselves  with  their  hands. 

What  horrible  things  are  battles!  Bucho 
shouted,  "  Strike  hard!  " 

I  felt  the  sweat  run  down  my  forehead,  and  others 


WATERLOO 


279 


with  great  gashes,  and  their  eyes  full  of  blood,  were 
wiping  their  faces  and  laughing  ferociously. 

In  ten  minutes,  seven  hundred  dragoons  were 
hors-de-combat ;  their  gray  horses  were  running 
wildly  about  on  all  sides,  with  their  bits  in  their 
teeth.  Some  hundreds  of  them  had  retired  behind 
their  batteries,  but  more  than  one  was  reeling  in  his 
saddle  and  clutching  at  his  horse's  mane. 

They  had  found  out  that  to  attack  was  not  all  the 
battle,  and  that  very  often  circumstances  arise 
which  are  quite  unexpected. 

In  all  that  frightful  spectacle,  wnat  impressed 
me  most  deeply,  was  seeing  our  cuirassiers  return- 
ing with  their  sabres  red  to  the  hilt,  laughing  among 
themselves;  and  a  fat  captain  with  immense  brown 
mustaches,  winked  good-humoredly  as  he  passed  by 
us,  as  much  as  to  say,  "  You  see  we  sent  them  back 
in  a  hurry,  eh !  " 

Yes,  but  three  thousand  of  our  men  were  left  in 
that  little  hollow.  And  it  was  not  yet  finished :  the 
companies  and  battalions  and  brigades  were  being 
re-formed,  the  musketry  rattled  in  the  vicinity  of 
Haie-Sainte,  and  the  cannon  thundered  near  Hou- 
goumont.  "  It  was  only  just  a  beginning,"  the  offi- 
cers said.  You  would  have  thought  that  men's  lives 
were  of  no  value ! 

But  it  was  necessary  to  get  possession  of  Haie- 
Sainte,  and  to  force  a  passage  from  the  highway  to 


28o  WATERLOO 

the  enemy's  centre  just  as  an  entrance  must.be  ef- 
fected into  a  fortification  through  the  fire  of  the 
outworks  and  the  demilunes.  We  had  been  re- 
pulsed the  first  time,  but  the  battle  was  begun,  and 
we  could  not  go  back.  After  the  charge  of  the 
cuirassiers,  it  took  a  little  time  for  us  to  re-form: 
the  battle  continued  at  Hougoumont,  and  the  can- 
nonade re-opened  on  our  right,  and  two  batteries 
had  been  brought  up  to  sweep  the  highway  in  the 
rear  of  Haie-Sainte,  where  the  road  begins  to  mount 
the  hill.  We  all  saw  that  that  was  to  be  the  point 
of  attack. 

We  stood  waiting  with  shouldered  arms,  when 
about  three  o'clock  Buche  looked  behind  him  on  the 
road  and  said,  "  The  Emperor  is  coming !  " 

And  others  in  the  ranks  repeated,  "  Here  is  the 
Emperor." 

The  smoke  was  so  thick  that  we  could  barely  see 
the  bear-skin  caps  of  the  Old  Guard  on  the  little  hill 
of  Rossomme.  I  turned  round  also  to  see  the  Em- 
peror, and  immediately  recognized  Marshal  ISTey, 
with  five  or  six  of  his  staff  officers.  He  was  coming 
from  head-quarters  and  pushed  straight  down  upon 
us  across  the  fields.  We  stood  with  our  backs  to 
him ;  our  officers  hurried  to  meet  him,  and  they  con- 
versed together,  but  we  could  not  hear  a  word  in 
consequence  of  the  noise  which  filled  our  ears. 

The  marshal  then  rode  along  the  front  of  our  two 


WATERLOO  281 

battalions,  with  his  sword  drawn.  I  had  never  seen 
him  so  near  since  the  grand  review  at  Aschaffen- 
bourg;  he  seemed  older,  thinner,  and  more  bony, 
but  still  the  same  man;  he  looked  at  us  with  his 
sharp  gray  eyes,  as  if  he  took  us  all  in  at  a  glance, 
and  each  one  felt  as  if  he  were  looking  directly  at 
him. 

At  the  end  of  a  second  he  pointed  toward  Haie- 
Sainte  with  his  sword,  and  exclaimed : 

"  We  are  going  to  take  that,  you  will  have  the 
whole  at  once,  it  is  the  turning-point  of  the  battle. 
I  am  going  to  lead  you  myself.  Battalions  by  file 
to  the  left!" 

We  started  at  a  quick  step  on  the  road,  marching 
by  companies  in  three  ranks.  I  was  in  the  second. 
Marshal  Ney  was  in  front,  on  horseback,  with  the 
two  colonels  and  Captain  Florentin:  he  had  re- 
turned his  sword  to  the  scabbard.  The  balls  whis- 
tled round  our  ears  by  hundreds,  and  the  roar  of 
cannon  from  Hougoumont  and  on  our  left  and  right 
in  the  rear  was  so  incessant,  that  it  was  like  the  ring- 
ing of  an  immense  bell,  when  you  no  longer  hear  the 
strokes,  but  only  the  booming.  One  and  another 
sank  down  from  among  us,  but  we  passed  right  on 
over  them. 

Two  or  three  times  the  marshal  turned  round  to 
see  if  we  were  marching  in  good  order;  he  looked 
so  calm,  that  it  seemed  to  me  quite  natural  not  to 


282  WATERLOO 

be  afraid,  his  face  inspired  us  all  with  confidence, 
and  each  one  thought,  "  Key  is  with  us,  the  others 
are  lost!  "  which  only  shows  the  stupidity  of  the 
human  race,  since  so  many  others  besides  us  escaped. 

As  we  approached  the  buildings  the  report  of  the 
musketry  became  more  distinct  from  the  roar  of  can- 
non, and  we  could  better  see  the  flash  of  the  guns 
from  the  windows,  and  the  great  black  roof  above 
in  the  smoke,  and  the  road  blocked  up  with  stones. 

We  went  along  by  a  hedge,  behind  which  crac- 
kled the  fire  of  our  skirmishers,  for  the  first  brigade 
of  Alix's  division  had  not  quitted  the  orchards;  and 
on  seeing  us  filing  along  the  road,  they  commenced 
to  shout,  "  Vive  PEmpereur." 

The  whole  fire  of  the  German  musketry  was  then 
turned  on  us,  when  Marshal  Key  drew  his  sword  and 
shouted  in  a  voice  which  reached  every  ear,  "  For- 
ward! " 

He  disappeared  in  the  smoke  with  two  or  three 
officers,  and  we  all  started  on  a  run,  our  cartridge- 
boxes  dangling  about  our  hips,  and  our  muskets  at 
the  "  ready.". 

Far  to  the  rear  they  were  beating  the  charge;  we 
did  not  see  the  marshal  again  till  we  reached  a  shed 
which  separated  the  garden  from  the  road,  when  we 
discovered  him  on  horseback  before  the  main  en- 
trance. 

It  appeared  that  they  had  already  tried  to  force 


WATERLOO  283 

the  door,  as  there  was  a  heap  of  dead  men,  timbers, 
paving  stones,  and  rubbish  piled  up  before  it,  reach- 
ing to  the  middle  of  the  road.  The  shot  poured 
from  every  opening  in  the  building,  and  the  air  was 
heavy  with  the  smell  of  the  powder. 

"  Break  that  in,"  shouted  the  marshal.  Fifteen 
or  twenty  of  us  dropped  our  muskets,  and  seizing 
beams  we  drove  them  against  the  door  with  such 
force,  that  it  cracked  and  echoed  back  the  blows 
like  thunder.  You  would  have  thought  it  would 
drop  at  every  stroke;  we  could  see  through  the 
planks  the  paving  stones  heaped  as  high  as  the  top 
inside.  It  was  full  of  holes,  and  when  it  fell  it 
might  have  crushed  us,  but  fury  had  rendered  us 
blind  to  danger.  We  no  longer  had  any  resem- 
blance to  men,  some  had  lost  their  shakos,  others 
had  their  clothes  nearly  torn  off;  the  blood  ran 
from  their  fingers  and  down  their  sides,  and  at  every 
discharge  of  musketry  the  shot  from  the  hill  struck 
the  paving  stones,  pounding  them  to  dust  around  us. 

I  looked  about  me,  but  I  could  not  see  either 
Buche  or  Zebede  or  any  others  of  our  company,  the 
marshal  had  disappeared  also.  Our  rage  redoubled ; 
and  as  the  timbers  went  back  and  forth,  we  grew 
furious  to  find  that  the  door  would  not  come  down, 
when  suddenly  we  heard  shouts  of  "  Vive  I'Em- 
pereur  "  from  the  court,  accompanied  with  a  most 
horrible  uproar.  Every  one  knew  that  our  troops 


284  WATERLOO 

had  gained  an  entrance  into  the  enclosure.  We 
dropped  the  timbers,  and  seizing  our  guns  we  sprang 
through  the  breaches  into  the  garden  to  find  where 
the  others  had  entered.  It  was  in  the  rear  of  the 
house  through  a  door  opening  into  the  barn.  We 
rushed  through  one  after  the  other  like  a  pack  of 
wolves. 

The  interior  of  this  old  structure,  with  its  lofts 
full  of  hay  and  straw,  and  its  stables  covered  with 
thatch,  looked  like  a  bloody  nest  which  had  been 
attacked  by  a  sparrow-hawk. 

On  a  great  dung-heap  in  the  middle  of  the  court, 
our  men  were  bayoneting  the  Germans  who  were 
yelling  and  swearing  savagely. 

I  was  running  hap-hazard  through  this  butchery, 
when  I  heard  some  one  call,  "  Joseph,  Joseph !  "  I 
looked  round,  thinking,  "  That  is  Buche  calling 
me."  In  a  moment  I  saw  him  at  the  door  of  a  wood- 
shed, crossing  bayonets  with  five  or  six  of  our  men. 

I  caught  sight  of  Zebede  at  that  same  instant,  as 
our  company  was  in  that  corner,  and  rushing  to 
Buche's  assistance,  I  shouted,  "  Zcbede!  "  Parting 
the  combatants,  I  asked  Buche  what  was  the  mat- 
ter. 

"  They  want  to  murder  my  prisoners !  "  said  he. 
I  joined  him,  and  the  others  began  to  load  their  mus- 
kets to  shoot  us.  They  were  voltigeurs  from  another 
battalion. 


WATERLOO  285 

At  that  moment  Zebede  came  up  with  several 
men  from  our  company,  and  without  knowing  how 
the  matter  stood,  he  seized  the  most  brutal  one  by 
the  throat  and  exclaimed,  "  My  name  is  Zebede, 
sergeant  of  the  Sixth  light  infantry.  When  this 
affair  is  settled,  we  will  have  a  mutual  explanation." 

Then  they  went  away,  and  Zebede  asked: 

"  What  is  all  this,  Joseph?  " 

I  told  him  we  had  some  prisoners.  He  turned 
pale  with  anger  against  us,  but  when  he  went  into 
the  wood-shed  he  saw  an  old  major,  who  presented 
him  the  guard  of  his  sabre  in  silence,  and  another 
soldier,  who  said  in  German,  "  Spare  my  life, 
Frenchman;  don't  take  my  life." 

The  cries  of  the  dying  still  filled  the  court,  and 
his  heart  relenting,  Zebede  said,  "  Very  well,  I  take 
you  prisoners." 

He  went  out  and  shut  the  door.  We  did  not  quit 
the  place  again  until  the  assembly  began  to  beat. 

Then,  when  the  men  were  in  their  ranks,  Zebede 
notified  Captain  Florentin  that  we  had  taken  a 
major  and  a  soldier  prisoners. 

They  were  brought  out  and  marched  across  the 
court  without  arms,  and  put  in  a  room  with  three  or 
four  others.  These  were  all  that  remained  of  the 
two  battalions  of  Nassau  troops  which  were  in- 
trusted with  the  defence  of  Haie-Sainte. 

While  this  had  been  going  on,  two  other  battal- 


286  WATERLOO 

ions  from  Nassau,  who  were  coming  to  the  assistance 
of  their  comrades,  had  been  massacred  outside  by 
our  cuirassiers,  so  that  for  the  moment  we  were 
victorious:  we  were  masters  of  the  principal  out- 
post of  the  English  and  could  begin  our  attack  on 
their  centre,  cut  their  communication  by  the  high- 
way with  Brussels,  and  throw  them  into  the  miser- 
able roads  of  the  forest  of  Soignes.  We  had  had  a 
hard  struggle,  but  the  principal  part  of  the  battle 
had  been  fought.  We  were  two  hundred  paces  from 
the  English  lines,  well  sheltered  from  their  fire; 
and  I  believe,  without  boasting,  that  with  the  bay- 
onet and  well  supported  by  the  cavalry,  we  could 
have  fallen  upon  them,  and  pierced  their  line. 
An  hour  of  good  work  would  have  finished  the 
affair. 

But  while  we  were  all  rejoicing  over  our  success, 
and  the  officers,  soldiers,  drummers,  and  trumpeters 
were  all  in  confusion,  amongst  the  ruins,  thinking 
of  nothing  but  stretching  our  legs  and  getting 
breath,  the  rumor  suddenly  reached  us  that  the 
Prussians  were  coming,  that  they  were  going  to  fall 
on  our  flank,  and  that  we  were  about  to  have  two 
battles,  one  in  front  and  the  other  on  our  right,  and 
that  we  ran  the  risk  of  being  surrounded  by  a  force 
double  our  own. 

This  was  terrible  news,  but  several  hot-headed 
fellows  exclaimed: 


WATERLOO  287 

"So  much  the  better,  let  the  Prussians  come! 
we  will  crush  them  all  at  once." 

Those  who  were  cool  saw  at  once  what  a  mistake 
we  had  made  by  not  making  the  most  of  our  vic- 
tory at  Ligny,  and  in  allowing  the  Prussians  quietly 
to  leave  in  the  night  without  being  pursued  by  our 
cavalry,  as  is  always  done. 

We  may  boldly  say  that  this  great  fault  was  the 
cause  of  our  defeat  at  Waterloo.  It  is  true,  the  Em- 
peror sent  Marshal  Grouchy  the  next  day  at  noon, 
with  thirty-two  thousand  men  to  look  after  the  en- 
emy, but  then  it  was  quite  too  late.  In  those  fif- 
teen hours  they  had  time  to  re-form,  to  commani- 
cate  with  the  English,  and  to  act  on  the  defensive. 

The  next  day  after  Ligny,  the  Prussians  still  had 
ninety  thousand  men,  of  whom  thirty  thousand  were 
fresh  troops,  and  two  hundred  and  seventy-five  can- 
non. With  such  an  army  they  could  do  what  they 
pleased ;  they  could  have  even  fought  a  second  bat- 
tle with  the  Emperor,  but  they  preferred  falling  on 
our  flank,  while  we  were  engaged  with  the  English 
in  front.  That  is  so  plain  and  clear,  that  I  cannot 
imagine  how  any  one  can  think  the  movement  of 
the  Prussians  surprising. 

Bliicher  had  already  played  us  the  same  trick  at 
Leipzig — and  he  repeated  it  now  in  drawing  Grou- 
chy on  to  pursue  him  so  far.  Grouchy  could  not 
force  him  to  return,  and  he  could  not  prevent  him 


288  WATERLOO 

from  leaving  thirty  or  forty  thousand  men  to  stop 
his  pursuers,  while  he  pushed  on  to  the  relief  of 
Wellington. 

Our  only  hope  was  that  Grouchy  had  been  or- 
dered to  return  and  join  us,  and  that  he  would  come 
up  in  the  rear  of  the  Prussians;  but  the  Emperor 
sent  no  such  order. 

It  was  not  we,  the  common  soldiers,  as  you  may 
well  think,  who  had  these  ideas;  it  was  the  officers 
and  generals;  we  knew  nothing  of  it ;  we  were  like 
children,  utterly  unconscious  that  their  hour  is  near. 

But  now  having  told  you  what  I  think,  I  will 
give  you  the  history  of  the  rest  of  the  battle  just  as 
I  saw  it  myself,  so  that  each  one  of  you  will  know 
as  much  about  it  as  I  do. 


XXI 

ALMOST  immediately  after  the  news  of  the  arrival 
of  the  Prussians,  the  assembly  began  to  beat,  the 
soldiers  of  the  different  battalions  formed  their 
ranks,  and  ours,  with  another  from  Quiot's  brigade, 
was  left  to  guard  Haie-Sainte,  and  all  the  others 
went  on  to  join  General  d'Erlon's  corps,  which  had 
advanced  again  into  the  valley,  and  was  endeavor- 
ing to  flank  the  enemy  on  the  left. 

The  two  battalions  went  to  work  at  once  to  barri- 
cade the  doors  and  the  breaches  in  the  walls  with 
timbers  and  paving  stones,  and  men  were  stationed 
in  ambush  at  all  the  holes  which  the  enemy  had 
made  in  the  wall  on  the  side  toward  the  orchard  and 
on  that  next  the  highway. 

Buche  and  I,  with  the  remainder  of  our  company, 
were  posted  over  a  stable  in  a  corner  of  the  barn, 
about  ten  or  twelve  hundred  paces  from  Hougou- 
mont.  I  can  still  see  the  row  of  holes  which  the  Ger- 
mans had  knocked  in  the  wall,  about  as  high  as  a 
man's  head,  in  order  to  defend  the  orchard.  As  we 
went  up  into  this  stable,  we  looked  through  these 
holes,  arid  we  could  see  our  line  of  battle,  the  high- 
19  289 


290  WATERLOO 

road  to  Brussels  and  Charleroi,  the  little  farms  of 
Belle- Alliance,  Rossomme,  and  Gros-Caillou,  which 
lie  along  this  road  at  little  distances  from  each 
other;  the  Old  Guard  which  was  stationed  across 
it,  with  their  shouldered  arms,  and  the  staff  on  a 
little  eminence  at  the  left,  and  farther  away  in  the 
same  direction,  in  the  rear  of  the  ravine  of  Planche- 
nois,  we  could  see  the  white  smoke  rising  continually 
above  the  trees.  This  was  the  attack  of  the  first 
Prussian  corps. 

We  heard  afterward  that  the  Emperor  had  sent 
Lobau  with  ten  thousand  men  to  turn  them  back. 
The  battle  had  begun,  but  the  Old  and  the  Young 
Guard,  the  cuirassiers  of  Milhaud  and  of  Keller- 
man,  and  the  chasseurs  of  Lefebvre-Desnoettes;  in 
fact  the  whole  of  our  magnificent  cavalry  re- 
mained in  position.  The  great,  the  real  battle  was 
with  the  English. 

What  a  crowd  of  thoughts  must  have  been  sug- 
gested, by  that  grand  spectacle  and  that  immense 
plain,  to  the  Emperor,  who  could  see  it  all  mentally 
better  than  we  could  with  our  own  eyes. 

We  might  have  stayed  there  for  hours,  if  Captain 
Florentin  had  not  come  up  suddenly,  and  exclaimed, 
"  What  are  you  doing  here?  Are  we  going  to  dis- 
pute the  passage  with  the  Guard?  Come!  hurry! 
Knock  a  hole  in  that  wall  on  the  side  toward  the 
enemy! " 


WATERLOO  291 

We  picked  up  the  sledges  and  pickaxes  which  the 
Germans  had  dropped  on  the  floor,  and  made  holes 
through  the  wall  of  the  gable. 

This  did  not  take  fifteen  minutes,  and  then  we 
could  see  the  fight  at  Hougoumont;  the  blazing 
buildings,  the  bursting  of  the  bombs  from  second  to 
second  among  the  ruins,  and  the  Scotch  chasseurs 
in  ambuscade  in  the  road  in  the  rear  of  the  place, 
and  on  our  right  about  two  gunshots  distant,  the 
first  line  of  the  English  artillery,  falling  back  on 
their  centre,  and  stationing  their  cannon,  which  our 
gunners  had  begun  to  dismount,  higher  up  the  hill. 

But  the  remainder  of  their  line  did  not  change; 
they  had  squares  of  red  and  squares  of  black  touch- 
ing each  other  at  the  corners  like  the  squares  of  a 
chess-board,  in  the  rear  of  the  deep  road;  and  in 
attacking  them  we  would  come  under  their  cross- 
fire. Their  artillery  was  in  position  on  the  brow  of 
the  hill,  and  in  the  hollow  on  the  hill-side  toward 
Mont-St.-Jean  their  cavalry  was  waiting. 

The  position  of  the  English  seemed  to  me  still 
stronger  than  it  was  in  the  morning;  and  as  we  had 
already  failed  in  our  attack  on  their  left  wing,  and 
the  Prussians  had  fallen  on  our  flank,  the  idea  oc- 
curred to  me,  for  the  first  time,  that  we  were  not 
sure  of  gaining  the  battle. 

I  imagined  the  horrible  rout  that  would  follow 
in  case  we  lost  the  battle — shut  in  between  two  ar- 


292  WATERLOO 

mies,  one  in  front  and  the  other  on  our  flank,  and 
then  the  invasion  which  would  follow;  the  forced 
contributions,  the  towns  besieged,  the  return  of  the 
emigres,  and  the  reign  of  vengeance. 

I  felt  that  my  apprehension  had  made  me  grow 
pale. 

At  that  moment  the  shouts  of  "  Vive  VEm- 
pereur  "  broke  from  thousands  of  throats  behind 
us.  Buche,  who  stood  near  me  in  a  corner  of  the 
loft,  shouted  with  all  the  rest  of  his  comrades,  "  Vive 
I'Empereur!  " 

I  leaned  over  his  shoulder  and  saw  all  the  cavarry 
of  our  right  wing;  the  cuirassiers  of  Milhaud,  the 
lancers  and  the  chasseurs  of  the  Guard,  more  than 
five  thousand  men — advancing  at  a  trot.  They 
crossed  the  road  obliquely  and  went  down  into  the 
valley  between  Hougoumont  and  Haie-Sainte.  I 
saw  that  they  were  going  to  attack  the  squares  of 
the  English,  and  that  our  fate  was  to  be  decided. 

We  could  hear  the  voices  of  the  English  artillery 
officers,  giving  their  orders,  above  the  tumult  and 
the  innumerable  shouts  of  "  Vive  I'Empereur." 

It  was  a  terrible  moment  when  our  cuirassiers 
crossed  the  valley;  it  made  me  think  of  a  torrent 
formed  by  the  melting  snows,  when  millions  of 
flakes  of  snow  and  ice  sparkle  in  the  sunshine.  The 
horses,  with  the  great  blue  portmanteaux  fastened 
to  their  croups,  stretched  their  haunches  like  deer 


WATERLOO 


293 


and  tore  up  the  earth  with  their  feet,  the  trumpets 
blew  their  savage  blasts  amidst  the  dull  roar  as  they 
passed  into  the  valley,  and  the  first  discharge  of 
grape  and  canister  made  even  our  old  shed  tremble. 

The  wind  blew  from  the  direction  of  Hougou- 
mont,  and  drove  the  smoke  through  all  the  open- 
ings; we  leaned  out  to  breathe,  and  the  second  and 
third  discharges  followed  each  other  instantly. 

I  could  see  through  the  smoke  that  the  English 
gunners  had  abandoned  their  cannon  and  were  run- 
ning away  with  their  horses,  and  that  our  cuirassiers 
had  immediately  fallen  upon  the  squares,  which 
were  marked  out  on  the  hill-side  by  the  zig-zag  line 
of  their  fire. 

Nothing  could  be  heard  but  a  grand  uproar  of 
cries,  incessant  clashing  of  arms  and  neighing  of 
horses,  varied  with  the  discharge  from  time  to  time, 
and  then  new  shouts,  new  tumult  and  fresh  groans. 
A  score  of  horses  with  their  manes  erect,  rushed 
through  the  thick  smoke  which  settled  around  us, 
like  shadows;  some  of  them  dragging  their  riders 
with  one  foot  caught  in  the  stirrup. 

And  this  lasted  more  than  an  hour. 

After  Milhaud's  cuirassiers,  came  the  lancers  of 
Lefebvre-Desnoettes,  after  them  the  cuirassiers  of 
Kellerman,  followed  by  the  grenadiers  of  the 
Guard,  and  after  the  grenadiers  came  the  dragoons. 
They  all  mounted  the  hill  at  a  trot,  and  rushed  upon 


294  WATERLOO 

the  squares  with  drawn  sabres,  shouting,  "  Vive 
VEmpereur  "  in  tones  which  reached  the  clouds. 
At  each  new  charge  it  seemed  as  if  the  squares  must 
be  overthrown;  but  when  the  trumpets  sounded 
the  signal  for  rallying  and  the  squadrons  rushed 
pell-mell  back  to  the  edge  of  the  plateau  to  re-form, 
pursued  by  the  showers  of  shot,  there  were  the  great 
red  lines,  steadfast  as  walls,  in  the  smoke. 

Those  Englishmen  are  good  soldiers,  but  then 
they  knew  that  Bliicher  was  coming  to  their  assist- 
ance with  sixty  thousand  men,  and  no  doubt  this 
inspired  them  with  great  courage. 

In  spite  of  everything,  at  six  o'clock  we  had  de- 
stroyed half  their  squares,  but  the  horses  of  our  cui- 
rassiers were  exhausted  by  twenty  charges  over  the 
ground  soaked  with  rain.  They  could  no  longer 
advance  over  the  heaps  of  dead. 

As  night  approached,  the  great  battle-field  in  our 
rear  began  to  be  deserted;  at  last  the  great  plain 
where  we  had  encamped  the  night  before  was  ten- 
antless,  only  the  Old  Guard  remained  across  the  road 
with  shouldered  arms,  all  had  gone — on  the  right 
against  the  Prussians,  on  the  left  against  the  Eng- 
lish. We  looked  at  each  other  in  terror. 

It  was  already  growing  dark,  when  Captain  Elo- 
rentin  appeared  at  the  top  of  the  ladder,  and  placing 
both  hands  on  the  floor,  he  said  in  a  grave  voice, 
"  Men,  the  time  has  come  to  conquer  or  die !  " 


WATERLOO  295 

I  remembered  that  these  words  were  in  the  procla- 
mation of  the  Emperor,  and  we  all  filed  down  the 
ladder.  It  was  still  twilight,  but  all  was  gray  in  the 
devastated  court;  the  dead  were  lying  stiff  on  the 
dung-heap  and  along  the  walls. 

The  captain  formed  our  men  on  the  right  side  of 
the  court,  and  the  commandant  of  the  other  bat- 
talion ranged  his  on  the  left;  our  drums  resounded 
through  the  old  building  for  the  last  time,  and 
we  filed  out  of  the  little  rear  door  into  the  gar- 
den, stooping  one  after  the  other  as  we  went 
through. 

The  walls  of  the  garden  outside  had  been  knocked 
down,  and  all  along  the  rubbish,  men  were  binding 
up  their  wounds — one  his  head,  another  his  arm  or 
his  leg.  A  cantiniere  with  her  donkey  and  cart, 
and  with  a  great  straw  hat  flattened  on  her  back — 
was  there  too  in  a  corner.  I  do  not  know  what  had 
brought  the  wretched  creature  there.  Several  sorry- 
looking  horses  were  standing  the  re,  exhausted  with 
fatigue,  with  their  heads  hanging  Jown,  and  covered 
with  blood  and  mud. 

What  a  difference  between  them  now,  and  in  the 
morning.  Then  the  companies  v.  ere  half  destroyed, 
but  still  they  were  companies.  Confusion  was  com- 
ing. It  had  taken  only  three  hours  to  reduce  us  to 
the  same  condition  we  were  in  at  Leipzig  at  the  end 
of  a  year.  The  remains  of  the  two  battalions  still 


296  WATERLOO 

formed  only  one  line,  in  good  order,  and  I  must  ad- 
mit that  we  began  to  be  anxious. 

When  men  have  tasted  nothing  for  twenty-four 
hours,  and  have  exhausted  all  their  strength  by 
fighting  all  day,  the  pangs  of  hunger  seize  them  at 
night,  fear  conies  also,  and  the  most  courageous  lose 
hope.  All  our  great  retreats,  with  their  horrors,  are 
traceable  to  the  want  of  food. 

For  in  spite  of  everything  we  were  not  conquered ; 
the  cuirassiers  still  held  their  position  on  the  pla- 
teau, and  from  all  sides  over  the  thunder  of  cannon, 
over  all  the  tumult,  the  cry  was  heard,  "  The  Guard 
is  coming!  "  Yes,  the  Guard  was  coming  at  last! 
"We  could  see  them  in  the  distance  on  the  highway, 
with  their  high  bear-skin  caps,  advancing  in  good 
order. 

Those  who  have  never  witnessed  the  arrival  of  the 
Guard  on  the  battle-field,  can  never  know  the  con- 
fidence which  is  inspired  by  a  body  of  tried  soldiers; 
the  kind  of  respect  paid  to  courage  and  force. 

The  soldiers  of  the  Old  Guard  were  nearly  all  old 
peasants,  born  before  the  Republic;  men  five  feet  and 
six  inches  inheight,thin  and  well  built,  who  had  held 
the  plough  for  convent  and  chateau;  afterward 
they  were  levied  with  all  the  rest  of  the  people,  and 
went  to  Germany,  Holland,  Italy,  Egypt,  Poland, 
Spain,  and  Russia,  under  Kleber,  Hoche,  and  Mar- 
ceau  first,  and  under  Napoleon  afterward.  He  took 


WATERLOO  297 

special  care  of  them  and  paid  them  liberally.  They 
regarded  themselves  as  the  proprietors  of  an  im- 
mense farm,  which  they  must  defend  and  enlarge 
more  and  more.  This  gained  them  consideration; 
they  were  defending  their  own  property.  They  no 
longer  knew  parents,  relatives,  or  compatriots;  they 
only  knew  the  Emperor;  he  was  their  God.  And 
lastly  they  had  adopted  the  King  of  Rome,  who  was 
to  inherit  all  with  them,  and  to  support  and  honor 
them  in  their  old  age.  Nothing  like  them  was  ever 
seen,  they  were  so  accustomed  to  march,  to  dress  their 
lines,  to  load,  and  fire,  and  cross  bayonets,  that  it  was 
done  mechanically  in  a  measure,  whenever  there 
was  a  necessity.  When  they  advanced,  carrying 
arms,  with  their  great  caps,  their  white  waistcoats 
and  gaiters,  they  all  looked  just  alike;  you  could 
plainly  see  that  it  was  the  right  arm  of  the  Emperor 
which  was  coming.  "When  it  was  said  in  the  ranks, 
"  The  Guard  is  going  to  move,"  it  was  as  if  they 
had  said,  "  The  battle  is  gained." 

But  now,  after  this  terrible  massacre,  after  the 
repulse  of  these  furious  attacks,  on  seeing  the  Prus- 
sians fall  on  our  flank,  we  said,  "  This  is  the  de- 
cisive blow." 

And  we  thought,  "  If  it  fails,  all  is  lost." 

This  was  why  we  all  looked  at  the  Guard  as  they 
marched  steadily  up  on  the  road. 

It  was  Key  who  commanded  them,  as  he  had  com- 


298  WATERLOO 

manded  the  cuirassiers.  The  Emperor  knew  that 
nobody  could  lead  them  like  Ney,  only  he  should 
have  ordered  them  up  an  hour  sooner,  when  our 
cuirassiers  were  in  the  squares;  then  we  should  have 
gained  all. 

But  the  Emperor  looked  upon  his  Guard  as  upon 
his  own  flesh  and  blood;  if  he  had  had  them  at  Paris 
five  days  later,  Lafayette  and  the  rest  of  them  would 
not  have  remained  long  in  their  chamber  to  depose 
him,  but  he  had  them  no  longer. 

This  was  why  he  waited  so  long  before  sending 
them;  he  hoped  that  Ney  would  succeed  in  over- 
whelming the  enemy  with  the  cavalry,  or  that  the 
thirty-two  thousand  men  under  Grouchy  would  re- 
turn, attracted  by  the  sound  of  the  cannon,  and  then 
he  could  send  them  in  place  of  his  Guard;  because 
he  could  always  replace  thirty  or  forty  thousand  by 
conscription;  but  to  have  another  such  Guard,  he 
must  commence  at  twenty-five,  and  gain  fifty  victo- 
ries, and  what  remained  of  the  best,  most  solid,  and 
the  toughest  would  be  the  Guard. 

It  came,  and  we  could  see  it.  Ney,  old  Eriant, 
and  several  other  generals,  marched  in  front.  We 
could  see  nothing  but  the  Guard — the  roaring  can- 
non, the  musketry,  the  cries  of  the  wounded,  all 
were  forgotten. 

But  the  lull  did  not  last  long;  the  English  per- 
ceived as  well  as  we,  that  this  was  to  be  the  decisive 


WATERLOO  299 

blow,  and  hastened  to  rally  all  their  forces  to  receive 
it. 

That  part  of  our  field  at  our  left  was  nearly  de- 
serted; there  was  no  more  firing,  either  because 
their  ammunition  was  exhausted,  or  the  enemy  were 
forming  in  a  new  order. 

On  the  right,  on  the  contrary,  the  cannonade  was 
redoubled;  the  struggle  seemed  to  have  been  trans- 
ferred to  that  side,  but  nobody  dared  to  say,  "  The 
Prussians  are  attacking  us;  another  army  has  come 
to  crush  us." 

No!  the  very  idea  was  too  horrible;  when  sud- 
denly a  staff  officer  rushed  past  like  lightning, 
shouting: 

"  Grouchy,  Marshal  Grouchy  is  coming!  " 

This  was  just  at  the  moment  when  the  four  bat- 
talions of  the  Guard  took  the  left  of  the  highway  in 
order  to  go  up  in  the  rear  of  the  orchard,  and  com- 
mence the  attack. 

How  many  times  during  the  last  fifty  years  I  have 
seen  it  over  again  at  night,  and  how  many  times  I 
have  heard  the  story  related  by  others.  In  listening 
to  these  accounts  you  would  think  that  only  the 
Guard  took  part  in  the  attack,  that  it  moved  forward 
like  ranks  of  palisades;  and  that  it  was  the  Guard 
alone  which  received  the  showers  of  shot. 

But  in  truth  this  terrible  attack  took  place  in  the 
greatest  confusion;  our  whole  army  joined  in  it;  all 


300  WATERLOO 

the  remnant  of  the  left  wing  and  centre,  all  that  was 
left  of  the  cavalry  exhausted  by  six  hours  of  fight- 
ing; every  one  who  could  stand  or  lift  an  arm.  The 
infantry  of  Reille  which  concentrated  on  the  left, 
we  who  remained  at  Haie-Sainte,  all  who  were  alive 
and  did  not  wish  to  be  massacred. 

And  when  they  say  we  were  in  a  panic  of  terror 
and  tried  to  run  away  like  cowards,  it  is  not  true. 
When  the  news  arrived  that  Grouchy  was  coming, 
even  the  wounded  rose  up  and  took  their  places  in 
the  ranks;  it  seemed  as  if  a  breath  had  raised  the 
dead;  and  all  those  poor  fellows  in  the  rear  of  Haie- 
Sainte  with  their  bandaged  heads  and  arms  and  legs, 
with  their  clothes  in  tatters  and  soaked  with  blood, 
every  one  who  could  put  one  foot  before  the  other, 
joined  the  Guard  when  it  passed  before  the  breaches 
in  the  wall  of  the  garden,  and  every  one  tore  open 
his  last  cartridge. 

The  attack  sounded,  and  our  cannon  began  again 
to  thunder.  All  was  quiet  on  the  hill-side,  the  rows 
of  English  cannon  were  deserted,  and  we  might  have 
thought  they  were  all  gone,  only  as  the  bear-skin 
caps  of  the  Guard  rose  above  the  plateau,  five  or  six 
volleys  of  shot  warned  us  that  they  were  waiting  for 
us. 

Then  we  Icnew  that  all  those  Englishmen,  Ger- 
mans. Belgians,  and  Hanoverians,  whom  we  had 
been  sabring  and  shooting  since  morning,  had  re- 


WATERLOO 


301 


formed  in  the  rear,  and  that  we  must  encounter 
them.  Many  of  the  wounded  retired  at  this  mo- 
ment, and  the  Guard,  upon  which  the  heaviest  part 
of  the  enemy's  fire  had  fallen,  advanced  through  the 
showers  of  shot  almost  alone,  sweeping  everything 
before  it,  but  it  closed  up  more  and  more,  and  dimin- 
ished every  moment.  In  twenty  minutes  every 
officer  was  dismounted,  and  the  Guard  halted  before 
such  a  terrible  fire  of  musketry,  that  even  we,  two 
hundred  paces  in  the  rear,  could  not  hear  our  own 
guns;  we  seemed  to  be  only  exploding  our  priming. 

At  last  the  whole  army,  in  front,  on  the  right  and 
on  the  left,  with  the  cavalry  on  the  flanks,  fell  upon 
us. 

The  four  battalions  of  the  Guard,  reduced  from 
three  thousand  to  twelve  hundred  men,  could  not 
withstand  the  charge,  they  fell  back  slowly,  and  we 
fell  back  also,  defending  ourselves  with  musket  and 
bayonet. 

"We  had  seen  other  battles  more  terrible,  but  this 
was  the  last. 

When  we  reached  the  edge  of  the  plateau,  all  the 
plain  below  was  enveloped  in  darkness  and  in  the 
confusion  of  the  defeat.  The  disbanded  troops 
were  flying,  some  on  foot  and  some  on  horseback. 

A  single  battalion  of  the  Guard  in  a  square  near 
the  farm-house,  and  three  other  battalions  farther 
on,  with  another  square  of  the  Guard  at  the  junction 


joa  WATERLOO 

of  the  route  at  Planchenois,  stood  motionless  as  some 
firm  structure  in  the  midst  of  an  inundation  which 
sweeps  away  everything  else. 

They  all  went — hussars,  chasseurs,  cuirassiers,  ar- 
tillery, and  infantry — pell-mell  along  the  road, 
across  the  fields,  like  an  army  of  savages. 

Along  the  ravine  of  Planchenois  the  dark  sky  was 
lighted  up  by  the  discharges  of  musketry;  the  one 
square  of  the  Guard  still  held  out  against  Bulow, 
and  prevented  him  from  cutting  off  our  retreat,  but 
nearer  us  the  Prussian  cavalry  poured  down  into  the 
valley  like  a  flood  breaking  over  its  barriers.  Old 
Bliicher  had  just  arrived  with  forty  thousand  men: 
he  doubled  our  right  wing  and  dispersed  it. 

What  can  I  say  more!  It  was  dissolution — we 
were  surrounded.  The  English  pushed  us  into  the 
valley,  and  it  was  through  this  valley  that  Bliicher 
was  coming.  The  generals  and  officers  and  even 
the  Emperor  himself  were  compelled  to  take  refuge 
in  a  square,  and  they  say  that  we  poor  wretches  were 
panic-stricken!  Such  an  injustice  was  never  seen. 

Buche  and  I  with  five  or  six  of  our  comrades  ran 
toward  the  farm-house — the  bombs  were  bursting 
all  around  us,  we  reached  the  road  in  our  wild  flight 
just  as  the  English  cavalry  passed  at  full  gallop, 
shouting,  "  No  quarter!  no  quarter!  " 

At  this  moment  the  square  of  the  Guard  began  to 
retreat,  firing  from  all  sides  in  order  to  keep  off  the 


COMBAT  OV  HOUGOUMONT  FARM. 


WATERLOO  303 

wretches  who  sought  safety  within  it.  Only  the 
officers  and  generals  might  save  themselves. 

I  shall  never  forget,  even  if  I  should  live  a  thou- 
sand years,  the  immeasurable,  unceasing  cries  which 
filled  the  valley  for  more  than  a  league;  and  in  the 
distance  the  grenadiere  was  sounding  like  an  alarm- 
bell  in  the  midst  of  a  conflagration.  But  this  was 
much  more  terrible ;  it  was  the  last  appeal  of  France, 
of  a  proud  and  courageous  nation;  it  was  the  voice 
of  the  country  saying,  "  Help,  my  children !  I  per- 
ish! " 

This  rolling  of  the  drums  of  the  Old  Guard  in  the 
midst  of  disaster,  had  in  it  something  touching  and 
horrible.  I  sobbed  like  a  child; — Buche  hurried 
me  along,  but  I  cried,  "  Jean,  leave  me — we  are 
lost,  everything  is  lost!  " 

The  thought  of  Catherine,  and  Mr.  Goulden,  and 
Pfalzbourg,  did  not  enter  my  mind.  What  aston- 
ishes me  to-day  is,  that  we  were  not  massacred  a  hun- 
dred times  on  the  road,  where  files  of  English  and 
Prussians  were  passing.  But  perhaps  they  mistook 
us  for  Germans,  or  they  were  running  after  the  Em- 
peror, for  they  were  all  hoping  to  see  him. 

Opposite  the  little  farm  of  Eossomme,  we  were 
obliged  to  turn  off  the  road  to  the  right,  into  the 
field;  it  was  here  that  the  last  square  of  the  Guard 
still  held  out  against  the  attack  of  the  Prussians  ; 
they  soon  gave  way,  for  twenty  minutes  afterward 


304    .  WATERLOO 

the  enemy  poured  over  the  road,  and  the  Prussian 
chasseurs  separated  into  bands  to  arrest  all  those  who 
straggled  or  remained  behind.  This  road  was  like 
a  bridge;  all  who  did  not  keep  on  it  fell  into  the 
abyss. 

At  the  slope  of  the  ravine  in  the  rear  of  the  inn 
"  Passe- Avant,"  some  Prussian  hussars  rushed  upon 
us:-  there  were  not  more  than  five  or  six  of  them,  and 
they  called  out  to  us  to  surrender;  but  if  we  had 
raised  the  butts  of  our  muskets,  they  would  have 
sabred  us.  We  aimed  at  them,  and  seeing  that  we 
were  not  wounded,  they  passed  on. 

This  forced  us  to  return  to  the  road,  where  the  up- 
roar could  be  heard  for  at  least  two  leagues;  cavalry, 
infantry,  artillery,  ambulances,  and  baggage-wag- 
ons, were  creeping  along  the  road  pell-mell,  howling, 
beating,  neighing,  and  weeping.  The  retreat  at 
Leipzig  furnished  no  such  spectacle  as  this. 

The  moon  rose  above  the  wood  behind  Planche- 
nois,  and  lighted  up  this  crowd  of  shapskas,*  bear- 
skin caps,  helmets,  sabres,  bayonets,  broken  caissons, 
and  abandoned  cannon;  the  crowd  and  confusion 
increased  every  moment,  plaintive  howls  were  heard 
from  one  end  of  the  line  to  the  other,  rolling  up  and 
down  the  hill-side  and  dying  away  in  the  distance 
like  a  sigh. 

But  the  saddest  of  all,  were  the  cries  of  the 
*  Polish  military  cap. 


WATERLOO  305 

women,  those  unhappy  creatures  who  follow  armies. 
When  they  were  knocked  down  or  crowded  out  on 
to  the  slope  with  their  carts,  their  screams  could  be 
heard  above  all  the  uproar,  but  no  one  turned  his 
head,  not  a  man  stretched  out  a  hand  to  help  them: 
"  Every  one  for  himself ! — I  shall  crush  you, — so 
much  the  worse  for  you, — I  am  the  stronger — you 
scream,  but  it  is  all  the  same  to  me! — take  care, — 
take  care — I  am  on  horseback — I  shall  hit  you  ! 
room — let  me  get  away — the  others  do  just  the  same 
— room  for  the  Emperor!  room  for  the  marshal!  " 
The  strong  crush  the  weak — the  only  thing  in  the 
world  is  strength!  On!  on!  Let  the  cannons 
crush  everything,  if  we  can  only  save  them ! 

But  the  cannon  can  move  no  farther, — unhitch 
them,  cut  the  traces,  and  the  horses  will  carry  us  off. 
Make  them  go  as  fast  as  possible,  and  if  they  break 
down — then  let  them  go?  If  we  were  not  the 
stronger  our  turn  would  come  to  be  crushed — we 
should  cry  out  and  everybody  would  mock  at  our 
complaints.  Save  himself  who  can — and  "  Vive 
I'Empereur!" 

"  But  the  Emperor  is  dead!  " 

Everybody  thought  the  Emperor  had  died  with 
the  Old  Guard;  that  seemed  perfectly  natural. 

The  Prussian  cavalry  passed  us  in  files  with  drawn 
sabres,  shouting,  "  Hurrah !  "  They  seemed  to  be 
escorting  us,  but  they  sabred  every  one  who  strag* 
20 


306  WATERLOO 

gled  from  the  road,  and  took  no  prisoners,  neither 
did  they  attack  the  column;  a  few  musket-shots 
passed  over  us  from  the  right  and  left. 

Far  in  the  rear  we  could  see  a  red  light :  this  was 
the  farm-house  at  Caillou. 

We  hastened  onward,  borne  down  with  fatigue, 
hunger,  and  despair;  we  were  ready  to  die,  but  still 
the  hope  of  escape  sustained  us.  Buche  said  to  me 
as  we  went  along,  "  Joseph,  let  us  help  each  other." 

"  I  will  never  abandon  you,"  I  replied.  "  "VVe 
will  die  together.  I  can  hold  out  no  longer,  it  is  too 
terrible, — we  might  better  lie  down  at  once." 

"  No,  let  us  keep  on,"  said  he.  "  The  Prussians 
make  no  prisoners.  Look!  they  kill  without 
mercy,  just  as  we  did  at  Ligny." 

We  kept  on  in  the  same  direction  with  thousands 
of  others,  sullen  and  discouraged,  and  yet  we  would 
turn  round  all  at  once  and  close  our  ranks  and  fire, 
when  a  squadron  of  Prussians  came  too  near.  We 
were  still  firm,  still  the  stronger  from  time  to  time ; 
we  found  abandoned  gun-carriages,  caissons,  and 
cannons,  and  the  ditches  on  either  side  were  full  of 
knapsacks,  cartridge-boxes,  guns,  and  sabres,  which 
had  been  thrown  away  by  the  men  to  facilitate  their 
flight. 

But  the  most  terrible  thing  of  all  was  the  great 
ambulances  in  the  middle  of  the  road  filled  with  the 
wounded.  The  drivers  had  cut  the  traces  and  fled 


WATERLOO  307 

with  the  horses  for  fear  of  being  taken  prisoners. 
The  poor  half -dead  wretches,  with  their  arms  hang- 
ing down,  looked  at  us  as  we  passed  with  despairing 
eyes. 

When  I  think  of  all  this  now,  it  reminds  me  of 
the  tufts  of  straw  and  hay  which  lodge  among  the 
bushes  after  an  inundation.  We  say  "  That  is  our 
harvest,  this  is  our  crop,  that  is  what  the  tempest  has 
left  us." 

Ah!  I  have  had  many  such  reflections  during 
fifty  years ! 

What  grieved  me  most  and  made  my  heart  bleed 
in  the  midst  of  this  rout  was  that  I  could  not  dis- 
cover a  single  man  of  our  battalion  besides  ourselves. 
I  said  to  myself,  "  They  cannot  all  be  dead;  "  and  I 
said  to  Buche : 

"  If  I  could  only  find  Zebede  it  would  give  me 
back  my  courage." 

But  he  replied:  "Let  us  try  to  save  ourselves, 
Joseph,  As  for  me,  if  I  ever  see  Harberg  again,  I 
will  not  complain  because  I  have  to  eat  potatoes. 
"No,  no.  God  has  punished  me.  I  shall  be  content- 
ed to  work  and  go  into  the  woods  with  my  axe  on  my 
shoulder.  If  only  I  do  not  go  home  maimed,  and  if 
I  am  not  compelled  to  hold  out  my  hand  at  the  road- 
side in  order  to  live,  like  so  many  others.  Let  us 
try  to  get  home  safe  and  sound." 

I  thought  he  showed  great  good  sense. 


308  WATERLOO 

At  about  half -past  ten,  as  we  reached  the  environs 
of  Genappe,  terrible  cries  were  heard  in  the  dis- 
tance. Fires  of  straw  had  been  lighted  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  principal  street  to  give  light  to  the  multi- 
tude, and  we  could  see  from  where  we  were,  that  the 
houses  were  full  of  people  and  the  streets  so  full  of 
horses  and  baggage  that  they  could  not  move  a  step. 
We  knew  that  the  Prussians  might  come  at  any 
moment,  and  that  they  would  have  cannon;  and 
that  it  would  be  better  for  us  if  we  went  round  the 
village  than  to  be  taken  prisoners  altogether.  This 
was  why  we  turned  to  the  left  across  the  grain  fields 
with  a  great  many  others.  "We  crossed  the  Thy  in 
water  up  to  our  waists,  and  toward  midnight  we 
reached  Quatre-Bras. 

We  had  done  well  not  to  stop  at  Genappe,  for  we 
already  heard  the  roar  of  the  Prussian  cannon  and 
musketry  near  the  village.  Great  numbers  of  fugi- 
tives came  along  the  road,  cuirassiers,  lancers,  and 
chasseurs.  "Not  one  of  them  stopped. 

We  began  to  be  terribly  hungry.  We  knew  very- 
well  that  everything  in  these  houses  must  have  been 
eaten  long  ago,  but  still  we  went  into  the  one  on  the 
left.  The  floor  was  covered  with  straw,  on  which 
the  wounded  were  lying.  We  had  hardly  opened 
the  door  when  they  all  began  to  cry  out  at  once ;  to 
tell  the  truth,  the  stench  was  so  horrible  that  we  left 
immediately  and  took  the  road  to  Charleroi.  The 


WATERLOO 

moon  shone  beautifully,  and  we  could  see  on  the 
right  amongst  the  grain  a  quantity  of  dead  men,  who 
had  not  yet  been  buried. 

Buche  followed  a  furrow  about  twenty-five  paces, 
to  where  three  or  four  Englishmen  were  lying  one 
on  the  top  of  the  other.  I  asked  him  what  he  was 
going  to  do  amongst  the  dead. 

He  came  back  with  a  tin  bottle,  and  shaking  it 
at  his  ear,  he  said,  "  Joseph,  it  is  full." 

He  dipped  it  in  the  water  of  the  ditch  before 
opening  it,  and  then  took  out  the  cork  and  drank, 
saying,  "  It  is  brandy !  " 

He  passed  it  to  me,  and  I  drank  also.  I  felt  my 
life  returning,  and  I  gave  him  back  the  bottle  half 
full,  thanking  God  for  the  good  idea  that  he  had 
given  us. 

We  looked  on  all  sides  to  see  if  we  could  not  find 
some  bread  in  the  haversacks  of  the  dead,  but  the 
uproar  increased,  and  as  we  could  not  resist  the 
Prussians  if  they  should  surround  us,  we  set  off  again 
full  of  strength  and  courage.  The  brandy  made  us 
look  at  everything  on  the  bright  side  already,  and  I 
said  to  Buche: 

"  Jean,  now  the  worst  is  over  and  we  shall  see 
Pfalzbourg  and  Harberg  again.  "We  are  on  a  good 
road  which  will  take  us  back  to  Trance.  If  we  had 
gained  the  battle,  we  should  have  been  forced  to  go 
still  farther  into  Germany,  and  we  should  have  been 


3io  WATERLOO 

obliged  to  fight  the  Austrians  and  the  Kussians,  and 
if  we  had  had  the  good  fortune  to  escape  with  OUT 
lives,  we  should  have  returned  old  gray-haired  vet- 
erans, and  should  have  been  compelled  to  keep  gar- 
rison at  '  Petite  Pierre,'  or  somewhere  else." 

These  miserable  thoughts  ran  through  my  head, 
but  I  marched  on  with  more  courage,  and  Buche 
said: 

"  The  English  are  right  in  having  their  bottles 
made  of  tin,  for  if  I  had  not  seen  this  shining  in  the 
moonlight,  I  should  never  have  thought  of  going  to 
look  for  it." 

Every  moment  while  we  were  talking  in  this  way 
men  were  riding  by,  their  horses  almost  ready  to 
drop,  but  by  beating  and  spurring,  they  kept  them 
trotting  just  the  same. 

The  noise  of  the  retreating  army  began  to  reach 
our  ears  again  in  the  distance,  but  fortunately  we 
had  the  advance. 

It  might  have  been  about  one  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  and  we  thought  ourselves  safe,  when  sud- 
denly Buche  said  to  me : 

"  Joseph,  here  are  the  Prussians !  " 

And  looking  behind  us,  I  saw  in  the  moonlight 
five  bronzed  hussars  from  the  same  regiment  as  those 
who,  the  year  before,  had  cut  poor  Klipf el  to  pieces. 
I  thought  this  was  a  bad  sign. 

"  Is  your  gun  loaded?  "  I  asked  Buche. 


WATERLOO  3n 

"Yes." 

"  Well!  let  us  wait,  we  must  defend  ourselves,  I 
will  not  surrender." 

"  Nor  I  either,"  said  he,  "  I  had  rather  die  than 
to  be  taken  prisoner." 

At  the  same  moment  the  Prussian  officer  shouted 
arrogantly,  "  Lay  down  your  arms." 

Instead  of  waiting,  as  I  did,  Buche  discharged  the 
contents  of  his  musket  full  in  the  officer's  breast. 
Then  the  other  four  fell  upon  us.  Buche  received 
a  blow  from  a  sabre  which  cut  his  shako  down  to  the 
visor,  but  with  one  thrust  with  his  bayonet  he  killed 
his  antagonist.  Three  of  them  still  remained.  My 
musket  was  loaded.  Buche  planted  himself  with 
his  back  against  a  nut-tree,  and  every  time  the  Prus- 
sians, who  had  fallen  back,  approached  us,  I  took 
aim.  Neither  of  them  wanted  to  be  the  first  to  die! 
As  we  waited,  Buche  with  his  bayonet  fixed  and  I 
with  my  musket  at  my  shoulder,  we  heard  a  gallop- 
ing on  the  road.  This  frightened  us,  for  we  thought 
more  Prussians  were  coming,  but  they  were  our 
lancers.  The  hussars  then  turned  off  into  the  grain, 
and  Buche  hastened  to  re-load  his  gun. 

Our  lancers  passed  and  we  followed  them  on  the 
run. 

An  officer  who  joined  us,  said  that  the  Emperor 
had  set  out  for  Paris,  and  that  King  Jerome  had 
just  taken  command  of  the  army. 


312  WATERLOO 

Buche's  scalp  was  laid  completely  open,  but  the 
bone  was  not  injured,  and  the  blood  ran  down  his 
cheeks.  He  bound  up  his  head  with  his  handker- 
chief. 

After  that  we  saw  no  more  Prussians. 

About  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  we  were  so 
weary  we  could  hardly  take  another  step.  About 
two  hundred  paces  to  the  left  of  the  road  there  was 
a  little  beech  grove.  Buche  said :  "  Look,  Joseph, 
let  us  go  in  there  and  lie  down  and  sleep." 

It  was  just  what  I  wanted. 

We  went  down  across  the  oat-field  to  the  wood, 
and  entered  a  close  thicket  of  young  trees. 

We  had  both  kept  our  guns  and  knapsacks  and 
cartridge-boxes.  We  laid  our  knapsacks  on  the 
ground  for  a  pillow,  and  it  had  long  been  broad  day- 
light, and  the  retreating  crowd  had  been  passing  for 
hours,  when  we  awoke  and  quietly  pursued  our  jour- 
ney. 


XXII 

NUMBERS  of  our  comrades  and  of  the  wounded 
remained  behind  at  Gosselies,  but  the  larger  part  of 
the  army  kept  on  their  way,  and  about  nine  o'clock 
we  began  to  see  the  spires  of  Charleroi  in  the  dis- 
tance, when  suddenly  we  heard  shouts,  cries,  com- 
plaints, and  shots  intermingled,  half  a  league  be- 
fore us. 

The  whole  immense  column  of  miserable  wretches 
halted,  shouting :  "  The  city  closes  its  doors  against 
us !  we  are  stopped  here !  " 

Consternation  and  despair  were  stamped  on  every 
face. 

But  a  moment  after,  the  news  came  that  the  con- 
voys of  provisions  were  coming  and  that  they  would 
not  distribute  them. 

"  Let  us  fall  upon  them!  Kill  the  rascals  who 
are  starving  us !  We  are  betrayed !  " 

The  most  fearful  and  the  most  exhausted  quick- 
ened their  pace,  and  drew  their  sabres  or  loaded  their 
muskets. 

It  was  plain  that  there  would  be  a  veritable  butch- 
ery if  the  guards  did  not  give  way.  Buche  himself 

shouted: 

313 


WATERLOO 

"  They  ought  all  to  be  murdered,  we  are  betrayed. 
Come,  Joseph,  let  us  be  revenged." 

But  I  held  him  back  by  the  collar  and  exclaimed : 

"  ISTo,  Jean,  no !  We  have  had  murders  enough 
already,  and  we  have  escaped  all,  and  we  do  not  want 
to  be  killed  here  by  Frenchmen.  Come !  " 

He  struggled  still,  but  at  last  I  showed  him  a  vil- 
lage on  the  left  of  the  road  and  said: 

"  Look!  there  is  the  road  to  Harberg,  and  there 
are  houses  like  those  at  Quatre  Vents;  let  us  go 
there  and  ask  for  bread ;  I  have  money,  and  we  shall 
certainly  find  some.  That  will  be  better  than  to 
attack  the  convoys  like  a  pack  of  wolves." 

He  allowed  himself  to  be  persuaded  at  last,  and 
we  set  off  once  more  through  the  grain.  If  hunger 
had  not  urged  us  on,  we  should  have  sat  down  on  the 
side  of  the  path  at  every  step.  But  at  the  end  of 
half  an  hour,  thanks  to  God,  we  reached  a  sort  of 
farm-house;  it  was  abandoned,  with  the  windows 
broken  out,  and  the  door  wide  open,  and  great  heaps 
of  black  earth  lying  about.  We  went  in  and  shout- 
ed, "  Is  there  no  one  here  ?" 

We  knocked  against  the  furniture  with  the  butts 
of  our  muskets,  but  not  a  soul  answered.  Our  fury 
increased,  because  we  saw  several  wretches,  follow- 
ing the  route  by  which  we  had  come,  and  we 
thought,  "  They  are  coming  to  eat  up  our  bread." 

Ahl   those  who  have  never  suffered  these  priva- 


WATERLOO  3!S 

tions  cannot  comprehend  the  fury  which  possessed 
us.     It  was  horrible — horrible ! 

"We  had  already  broken  open  the  door  of  a  cup- 
board filled  with  linen,  and  were  turning  over  every- 
thing with  our  bayonets,  when  an  old  woman  camo 
out  from  behind  a  table,  which  hid  the  passage  to 
the  cellar.  She  sobbed  and  exclaimed: 

"  My  God,  my  God !    have  mercy  upon  us." 

The  house  had  been  pillaged  early  in  the  morn- 
ing; they  had  taken  away  the  horses,  the  master  had 
disappeared  and  the  servants  had  fled. 

In  spite  of  our  fury  the  sight  of  the  poor  old 
woman  made  us  ashamed  of  ourselves,  and  I  said  to 
her: 

"  Do  not  be  afraid,  we  are  not  monsters,  only  give 
us  some  bread,  we  are  starving." 

She  was  sitting  on  an  old  chair  with  her  withered 
hands  crossed  over  her  knee,  and  she  said: 

"  I  no  longer  have  any,  they  have  taken  all.  My 
God!  all!  all!" 

Her  gray  hair  was  hanging  down  over  her  face, 
and  I  felt  like  weeping  for  her  and  for  ourselves. 
"Well!"  I  said,  "we  must  look  for  ourselves, 
Buche."  We  went  into  all  the  rooms  and  the 
stables,  there  was  nothing  to  be  seen,  everything 
had  been  stolen  and  broken. 

I  was  going  out,  when  in  the  shadow  behind  the 
old  door,  I  saw  something  whitish  against  the  walL 


3i6  WATERLOO 

I  stopped,  and  stretched  out  my  hand.  It  was  a 
linen  bag  with  a  strap.  I  took  it  down,  trembling 
in  mj  hurry.  Buche  looked  at  me — the  bag  was 
heavy — I  opened  it,  there  were  two  great  black  rad- 
ishes, half  of  a  small  loaf  of  bread,  dry  and  hard  as 
stone,  a  large  pair  of  shears  for  trimming  hedges, 
and  quite  in  the  bottom  some  onions  and  some  gray 
salt  in  a  paper. 

On  seeing  these  we  made  an  exclamation  of  joy, 
but  the  fear  of  seeing  the  others  come  in,  made  us 
run  out  in  the  rear,  far  into  the  rye-field,  skulking 
and  hiding  like  thieves. 

"We  had  regained  all  our  strength,  and  we  went 
and  sat  down  on  the  edge  of  a  little  brook.  Bucho 
said: 

"  Look  here !  I  must  have  my  part." 
"  Yes,— half  of  all,"   I  replied.     "  You  let  me 
drink  from  your  bottle,  I  will  divide  with  you." 

Then  he  was  calm  again.  I  cut  the  bread  in  two 
with  my  sabre  and  said :  "  Choose,  Jean ;  that  is 
your  radish,  and  there  are  half  the  onions,  and  we 
will  share  the  salt  between  us."  We  ate  the  bread 
without  soaking  it  in  the  water,  we  ate  our  radishes, 
our  onions  and  the  salt.  "We  should  have  kept  on 
eating  still,  if  we  had  had  more  to  eat,  but  yet  we 
were  satisfied. 

We  knelt  down  with  our  hands  in  the  water  and 
We  drank. 


WATERLOO  3!7 

"Now  let  us  go,"  said  Buche,  "and  leave  the  bag." 

In  spite  of  our  weary  legs,  which  were  ready  to 
give  out,  we  went  on  again  toward  the  left;  while  on 
the  right  behind  us,  toward  Charleroi,  the  shouts 
and  shots  redoubled,  and  all  along  the  road  we  could 
see  nothing  but  the  men  fighting,  but  they  were  al- 
ready far  away. 

We  looked  back  from  time  to  time,  and  Buche 
said: 

"  Joseph,  you  did  well  to  bring  me  away,  had  it 
not  been  for  you,  I  might  have  been  stretched  out 
over  there  by  the  road-side,  killed  by  a  Frenchman. 
I  was  too  hungry.  But  where  shall  we  go  now?  " 

I  answered,  "  Follow  me !  " 

We  passed  through  a  large  and  beautiful  village, 
pillaged  and  abandoned  also. 

Farther  on  we  met  some  peasants,  who  scowled  at 
us  from  the  road-side.  We  must  have  had  ill-look- 
ing faces,  especially  Buche  with  his  head  bound  up, 
and  his  beard  eight  days  old,  thick  and  hard  as  the 
bristles  of  a  boar. 

About  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  we  re-crossed 
the  Sambre,  by  the  bridge  of  Chatelet,  but  as  the 
Prussians  were  still  in  pursuit  we  did  not  halt  there. 
I  was  quite  at  ease,  thinking: 

"  If  they  are  still  pursuing  us,  they  will  follow 
the  bulk  of  the  army,  in  order  to  take  more  prison- 
ers and  pick  up  the  cannon,  caissons,  and  baggage." 


3i8  WATERLOO 

This  was  the  manner  in  which  we  were  compelled 
to  reason,  we,  who  three  days  before  had  made  the 
world  tremble. 

I  recollect  that  when  we  reached  a  small  village 
about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  we  stopped  at  a 
blacksmith's  shop  to  ask  for  water.  The  country 
people  immediately  began  to  gather  round,  and  the 
smith,  a  large,  dark  man,  asked  us  to  go  to  the  little 
inn,  opposite,  saying  he  would  join  us  and  take  a 
glass  of  beer  with  us. 

Naturally  enough  this  pleased  us,  for  we  were 
afraid  of  being  arrested,  and  we  saw  that  these  peo- 
ple were  on  our  side. 

I  remembered  that  I  had  some  money  in  my  knap- 
sack, and  that  now  it  would  be  useful. 

We  went  into  the  inn,  which  was  only  a  little 
shop,  with  two  small  windows  on  the  street,  and  a 
round  door  opening  in  the  middle,  as  is  common  in 
our  country  villages. 

When  we  were  seated  the  room  was  so  full  of  men 
and  women,  who  had  come  to  hear  the  news,  that  we 
could  hardly  breathe. 

The  smith  came.  He  had  taken  off  his  leather 
apron  and  put  on  a  little  blue  blouse,  and  we  saw  at 
once  that  he  had  five  or  six  men  with  him.  They 
were  the  mayor  and  his  assistant,  and  the  municipal 
councillors  of  the  place. 

They  sat  down  on  the  benches  opposite,  and  or- 


WATERLOO 

dered  the  favorite  sour  beer  of  the  country  for  us  to 
drink.  Buche  asked  for  some  bread;  the  innkeep- 
er's wife  brought  us  a  whole  loaf  and  a  large  piece 
of  beef  in  a  porringer. 

All  urged  us  to  "  Eat,  eat!  "  When  one  or  an- 
other would  ask  us  a  question  about  the  battle,  the 
smith  or  the  mayor  would  say : 

"  Let  the  men  finish,  you  can  see  plainly  that  they 
have  come  a  long  way." 

And  it  was  only  when  we  had  finished  eating,  that 
they  questioned  us,  asking  if  it  was  true  that  the 
French  had  lost  a  great  battle.  The  first  report  was 
that  we  were  the  victors,  but  afterward  they  heard 
a  rumor  that  we  were  defeated. 

We  understood  that  they  were  speaking  of  Ligny, 
and  that  their  ideas  were  confused.  I  was  ashamed 
to  tell  that  we  were  overthrown;  I  looked  at  Buche, 
and  he  said : 

"  We  have  been  betrayed.  The  traitors  revealed 
our  plans.  The  army  was  full  of  traitors,  who 
cried,  "  Sauve  qui  peut ! '  How  was  it  possible  for 
us  not  to  lose,  under  such  circumstances?  " 

It  was  the  first  time  I  had  heard  treason  spoken 
of;  some  of  the  wounded,  it  is  true,  had  said,  "  We 
are  betrayed,"  but  I  had  paid  no  attention  to  their 
words,  and  when  Buche  relieved  us  from  our  em- 
barrassment by  this  means,  I  was  glad  of  it,  though 
I  was  astonished. 


320  "WATERLOO 

The  people  sympathized  with  us  in  our  indigna- 
tion against  the  traitors. 

Then  we  were  obliged  to  explain  the  battle  and 
the  treason.  Buche  said  the  Prussians  had  fallen 
upon  us  through  the  treason  of  Marshal  Grouchy. 

This  seemed  to  me  to  be  going  too  far,  but  the 
peasants  in  their  pity  for  us  had  made  us  drink  again 
and  again,  and  had  given  us  pipes  and  tobacco,  and 
at  last  I  said  the  same  as  Buche.  It  was  not  till  af- 
ter we  had  left  the  place  that  the  recollection  of  our 
shameful  falsehoods  made  me  ashamed  of  myself, 
and  I  said  to  Buehe: 

"  Do  you  know,  Jean,  that  our  lies  about  the 
traitors  were  not  right?  If  every  one  tells  as  many, 
we  shall  all  be  traitors,  and  the  Emperor  will  be  the 
only  true  man  amongst  us.  It  is  a  disgrace  to  the 
country  to  say  that  we  have  so  many  traitors;  it  is 
not  true." 

"Bah!  bah!"  said  he.  "We  have  been  be- 
trayed; if  we  had  not,  the  English  and  Prussians 
could  never  have  forced  us  to  retreat." 

We  did  nothing  but  dispute  this  point  till  eight 
o'clock  in  the  evening.  By  this  time  we  had 
reached  a  village  called  Bouvigny. 

We  were  so  tired  that  our  legs  were  as  stiff  as 
stakes,  and  for  a  long  while  we  had  needed  a  great 
deal  of  courage  to  take  a  single  step. 

We  were  certain  that  the  Prussians  were  no  Ion- 


WATERLOO  321 

ger  near,  and  as  I  had  money  we  went  into  an  inn 
and  asked  for  a  bed. 

I  took  out  a  six-franc  piece  in  order  to  let  them 
see  that  we  could  pay.  I  had  resolved  to  change 
my  uniform  the  next  day,  to  leave  my  gun  and  knap- 
sack and  cartridge-box  here  and  to  go  home,  for  I 
believed  that  the  war  was  over,  and  I  rejoiced  in  the 
midst  of  my  misfortunes  that  I  had  escaped  with  my 
arms  and  legs. 

Buche  and  I  slept  that  night  in  a  little  room,  with 
a  Holy  Virgin  and  infant  Jesus  in  a  niche  between 
the  curtains  over  our  heads,  and  we  rested  like  the 
blessed  in  heaven. 

The  next  morning,  instead  of  keeping  on  our  way, 
we  were  so  glad  to  sit  on  a  comfortable  chair  in  the 
kitchen,  to  stretch  our  legs  and  smoke  our  pipes  as 
we  watched  the  kettles  boiling,  that  we  said,  "  Let 
us  stay  quietly  here.  To-morrow  we  shall  be  well 
rested,  and  we  will  buy  two  pairs  of  linen  pantaloons, 
and  two  blouses,  we  will  cut  two  good  sticks  from  a 
hedge,  and  go  home  by  easy  stages." 

The  thought  of  these  pleasant  plans  touched  us. 
And  it  was  from  this  inn  that  I  wrote  to  Catherine 
and  Aunt  Gredel  and  Mr.  Goulden.  I  wrote  only  a 
word : 

"  I  have  escaped,  let  us  thank  God,  I  am  coming,  I 
embrace  you  a  thousand  times  with  all  my  heart. 

"  JOSEPH  BEBTHA." 

31 


322 


WATERLOO 


I  thanked  God  as  I  wrote,  but  a  great  many  things 
were  to  happen  before  I  should  mount  our  staircase 
at  the  corner  of  the  rue  Fouquet  opposite  the  "  Bed 
Ox."  AVhen  one  has  been  taken  by  conscription  he 
must  not  be  in  a  hurry  to  write  that  he  is  released. 
That  happiness  does  not  depend  upon  us,  and  the 
best  will  in  the  world  helps  nothing. 

I  sent  off  my  letter  by  the  post,  and  we  stayed  all 
that  day  at  the  inn  of  the  "  Golden  Sheep." 

After  we  had  eaten  a  good  supper,  we  went  up  to 
our  beds,  and  I  said  to  Buche,  "  Ha !  Jean,  to  do 
what  you  please  is  quite  a  different  thing  from  be- 
ing forced  to  respond  to  the  roll-call." 

We  both  laughed  in  spite  of  the  misfortunes  of 
the  country,  of  course  without  thinking,  otherwise 
we  should  have  been  veritable  rascals. 

For  the  second  time  we  went  to  sleep  in  our  good 
bed,  when  about  one  o'clock  in  the  morning  we  were 
wakened  in  a  most  extraordinary  manner :  the  drums 
were  beating  and  we  heard  men  marching  all  over 
the  village. 

I  pushed  Jean,  and  he  said,  "  I  hear  it,  the  Prus- 
sians are  outside." 

You  cannot  imagine  our  terror,  but  it  was  much 
worse  a  moment  after;  some  one  knocked  at  the 
door  of  the  inn,  and  it  opened;  in  a  moment  the 
great  hall  was  full  of  people.  Some  one  carne  up 
the  stairs.  "We  had  both  got  up,  and  Buche 


WATERLOO  323 

said,  "  I  shall  defend  myself  if  they  try  to 
take  me." 

I  dared  not  think  what  I  was  going  to  do. 

We  were  almost  dressed,  and  I  was  hoping  to  es- 
cape in  the  darkness  without  being  recognized,  when 
suddenly  there  was  a  knock  at  the  door  and  a  shout, 
"  Open." 

We  were  obliged  to  open  it. 

An  infantry  officer,  wet  through  by  the  rain,  with 
his  great  blue  cloak  thrown  over  his  epaulettes, 
followed  by  an  old  sergeant  with  a  lantern, 
came  in. 

We  recognized  them  as  Frenchmen,  and  the 
officer  asked  brusquely,  "  Where  do  you  come 
from?" 

"  From  Mont-St.-Jean,  lieutenant,"  I  replied. 

"  From  what  regiment  are  you?  " 

"  From  the  Sixth  light  infantry,"  I  answered. 

He  looked  at  the  number  on  my  shako,  which  was 
lying  on  the  table,  and  at  the  same  time  I  saw  that 
his  number  was  also  the  Sixth. 

"  From  which  battalion  are  you?  "  said  he,  knit- 
ting his  brows. 

"  The  third." 

Buche,  pale  as  ashes,  did  not  say  a  word.  The 
officer  looked  at  our  guns  and  knapsacks  and  car- 
tridge-boxes behind  the  bed  in  the  corner. 

"  You  have  deserted,"  said  he. 


324  WATERLOO 

"  No,  lieutenant,  we  left,  the  last  ones,  at  eight 
o'clock,  from  Mont-St.-Jean." 

"  Go  downstairs,  we  will  see  if  that  is  true." 

We  went  downstairs.  The  officer  followed  us, 
and  the  sergeant  went  before  with  his  lantern. 

The  great  hall  below  was  full  of  officers  of  the 
12th  mounted  chasseurs,  and  of  the  6th  light  in- 
fantry. The  commandant  of  the  4th  battalion  of 
the  6th  was  promenading  up  and  down,  smoking  a 
little  wooden  pipe.  They  were  all  of  them  wet 
through  and  covered  with  mud. 

The  officers  said  a  few  words  to  the  commandant, 
who  stopped,  and  fixed  his  black  eyes  upon  us,  while 
his  crooked  nose  turned  down  into  his  gray  mus- 
tache. 

His  manner  was  not  very  gentle  as  he  asked  us 
half  a  dozen  questions  about  our  departure  from 
Ligny,  the  road  to  Quatre-Bras,  and  the  battle.  He 
winked  and  compressed  his  lips.  The  others  walked 
up  and  down  dragging  their  sabres  without  listen- 
ing to  us.  At  last  the  commandant  said,  "  Ser- 
geant, these  men  will  join  the  second  company;  go!" 

He  took  his  pipe  again  from  the  edge  of  the  man- 
tel, and  we  went  out  with  the  sergeant,  happy 
enough  to  get  off  so  easily,  for  they  might  have  shot 
us  as  deserters  before  the  enemy. 

We  followed  the  sergeant  for  two  hundred  paces 
to  the  other  end  of  the  village  to  a  shed.  Fires  had 


WATERLOO 


325 


been  lighted  farther  on  in  the  fields;  men  were 
sleeping  under  the  shed,  leaning  against  the  doors  of 
the  stables,  and  the  posts. 

A  fine  rain  was  falling  and  the  puddles  quivered 
in  the  gray  uncertain  moonlight.  We  stood  up  un- 
der a  part  of  the  roof  at  the  corner  of  the  old  house 
thinking  of  our  troubles. 

At  the  end  of  an  hour,  the  drums  began  to  beat 
with  a  dull  sound;  the  men  shook  the  straw  from 
their  clothes  and  we  resumed  our  march.  It  was 
still  dark — but  we  could  hear  the  chasseurs  sound- 
ing their  signal  to  mount,  behind  us. 

Between  three  and  four  in  the  morning,  at  dawn, 
we  saw  a  great  many  other  regiments,  cavalry,  in- 
fantry, and  artillery,  on  the  march  like  ourselves  by 
different  roads,  all  the  corps  of  Marshal  Grouchy  in 
retreat !  The  wet  weather,  the  leaden  sky,  the  long 
files  of  weary  men,  the  disappointment  of  being  re- 
taken, and  the  thought  that  so  many  efforts  and  so 
much  bloodshed  had  only  terminated  a  second  time 
in  an  invasion,  all  this  made  us  hang  down  our  heads. 

Nothing  was  heard  but  the  sound  of  our  own  foot- 
steps in  the  mud. 

I  could  not  shake  off  my  sadness  for  a  long  time, 
when  a  voice  near  me  said : 

"  Good-morning,  Joseph." 

I  was  awakened,  and  looking  at  the  man  who 
spoke  to  me,  I  recognized  the  son  of  Martin  the  tan- 


326  WATERLOO 

ner,  our  neighbor  at  Pfalzbourg;  he  was  corporal 
of  the  Sixth,  and  the  file-closer,  marching  with  arms 
at  will.  We  shook  hands.  It  was  a  real  consola- 
tion for  me  to  see  some  one  from  our  own  place. 

In  spite  of  the  rain  which  continued  to  fall  and 
our  great  fatigue,  we  could  talk  of  nothing  but  this 
terrible  campaign. 

I  related  the  story  of  the  battle  of  Waterloo,  and 
he  told  me  that  the  4th  battalion  on  leaving  Fleurus 
had  taken  the  route  toward  Wavre  with  the  whole 
of  Grouchy's  corps,  and  that  in  the  afternoon  of  the 
next  day,  the  18th,  they  heard  the  cannon  on  their 
left  and  that  they  all  wanted  to  go  in  that  direction, 
even  the  generals,  but  the  marshal  having  received 
positive  orders,  had  continued  on  the  route  to 
Wavre.  It  was  between  six  and  seven  o'clock,  be- 
fore they  were  convinced  that  the  Prussians  had  es- 
caped; then  they  changed  their  course  to  the  left 
in  order  to  rejoin  the  Emperor,  but  unfortunately,  it 
was  too  late,  and  toward  midnight  they  were  obliged 
to  take  a  position  in  the  fields. 

Each  battalion  formed  in  a  square.  At  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning  the  cannon  of  the  Prussians 
had  awakened  the  bivouacs,  and  they  had  skirmished 
until  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  the  order 
to  retreat  reached  them. 

Again,  Martin  said  they  were  too  late,  for  a  part 
of  the  enemy's  force  which  had  been  engaged  with 


WATERLOO 


327 


that  of  the  Emperor,  was  in  their  rear,  and  they  were 
obliged  to  march  all  the  rest  of  that  day  and  the 
night  following  in  order  to  escape  from  their  pur- 
suers. 

At  six  o'clock  the  battalion  had  taken  a  position 
near  the  village  of  Temploux,  and  at  ten  the  Prus- 
sians came  up  in  superior  force.  They  opposed 
them  in  the  most  vigorous  manner  in  order  to  give 
the  baggage  and  artillery  time  to  get  over  the  bridge 
at  Namur. 

Fortunately  the  whole  army  corps  had  escaped 
from  the  village  except  the  4th  battalion  which, 
through  a  mistake  of  the  commandant,  had  turned 
off  the  road  at  the  left,  and  was  obliged  to  throw 
itself  into  the  Sambre  in  order  to  escape  being  cut 
off.  Some  of  the  men  were  taken  prisoners  and 
some  were  drowned  in  trying  to  swim  across  the 
river. 

This  was  all  that  Martin  told  me;  he  had  no  news 
from  home. 

That  same  day  we  passed  through  Givet;  the  bat- 
talion bivouacked  near  the  village  of  Hierches  half  a 
league  farther  on.  The  next  day  we  passed  through 
Fumay  and  Rocroy,  and  slept  at  Bourg-Eideles,  the 
23d  of  June  at  Blombay,  the  24th  at  Saulsse-Lenoy 
• — where  we  heard  of  the  abdication  of  the  Emperor 
— and  the  days  following  at  Vitry,  near  Rheims,  at 
Jonchery,  and  at  Soissons.  Erom  there  the  bat- 


328  WATERLOO 

talion  took  the  route  toward  Ville-Cotterets,  but  the 
enemy  was  already  before  us,  and  we  changed  our 
course  to  Ferte-Milon,  and  bivouacked  at  Neu- 
chelles,  a  village  destroyed  by  the  invasion  of  1814, 
and  which  had  not  yet  been  rebuilt.  We  left  that 
place  on  the  29th,  about  one  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
passing  through  Meaux. 

Here  we  were  obliged  to  take  the  road  to  Lagny, 
because  the  Prussians  occupied  that  which  led  to 
Claye.  .  "We  marched  all  that  day  and  the  night  fol- 
lowing. 

On  the  30th,  at  five  in  the  morning,  we  were  at 
the  bridge  of  Saint-Maur. 

The  same  day  we  passed  outside  of  Paris  and 
bivouacked  in  a  place  rich  in  everything,  called  Vau- 
girard. 

The  1st  of  July  we  reached  Meudon,  a  superb 
place.  We  could  see  by  the  walled  gardens  and 
orchards,  and  by  the  size  and  good  condition  of  the 
houses,  that  we  were  in  the  suburbs  of  the  most 
beautiful  city  in  the  world,  and  yet  we  were  in  the 
midst  of  the  greatest  danger  and  suffering,  and  our 
hearts  bled  in  consequence. 

The  people  were  kind  and  friendly  to  the  soldiers, 
and  called  us  the  defenders  of  the  country,  and  even 
the  poorest  were  willing  to  go  to  battle  with  us. 

We  left  our  position  at  eleven  o'clock  in  the  even- 
ing of  the  1st  of  July,  and  went  to  St.  Cloud,  which 


WATERLOO  329 

is  nothing  but  palace  upon  palace,  and  garden  upon 
garden,  with  great  trees,  and  magnificent  alleys,  and 
everything  that  is  beautiful.  At  six  o'clock  we 
quitted  St.  Cloud  to  go  back  to  our  position  at  Vau- 
girard. 

The  most  startling  rumors  filled  the  city.  The 
Emperor  had  gone  to  Rochefort — they  said  ;  the 
King  was  coming  back — Louis  the  XVIII.  was  en 
route — and  so  forth. 

They  knew  nothing  certain  in  the  city,  where  they 
should  soonest  know  everything. 

The  enemy  attacked  us  in  the  suburbs  of  Issy 
about  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  we  fought 
till  midnight  for  our  capital. 

The  people  aided  as  much  as  possible;  they  car- 
ried off  the  wounded  from  under  the  enemy's  fire; 
even  the  women  took  pity  on  us. 

What  we  suffered  from  being  driven  to  this,  I  can- 
not describe.  I  have  seen  Buche  himself  cry  be- 
cause we  were  in  one  sense  dishonored.  I  wished  I 
had  never  seen  that  time.  Twelve  days  before  I  did 
not  know  that  France  was  so  beautiful.  But  on 
seeing  Paris  with  its  towers  and  its  innumerable  pal- 
aces extending  as  far  as  the  horizon,  I  thought, 
"  This  is  France,  these  are  the  treasures  that  our 
fathers  have  amassed  during  century  after  century. 
What  a  misfortune  that  the  English  and  Prussians 
should  ever  come  here." 


330  WATERLOO 

At  four  in  the  morning  we  attacked  the  Prussians 
with  new  fury,  and  retook  the  positions  we  had  lost 
the  day  before.  Then  it  was  that  some  generals 
came  and  announced  a  suspension  of  hostilities. 
This  took  place  on  the  3d  of  July,  1815. 

We  thought  that  this  suspension  was  to  give  no- 
tice to  the  enemy,  that  if  he  did  not  quit  our  country, 
France  would  rise  as  one  man,  and  crush  them  all  as 
she  did  in  '92.  These  were  our  opinions,  and  seeing 
that  the  people  were  on  our  side,  I  remembered  the 
general  levies  which  Mr.  Goulden  was  always  talk- 
ing about. 

But  unhappily  a  great  many  were  so  tired  of 
Napoleon  and  his  soldiers,  that  they  sacrificed  the 
country  itself,  in  order  to  be  rid  of  him.  They  laid 
all  the  blame  on  the  Emperor,  and  said,  if  it  had  not 
been  for  him,  our  enemies  would  never  have  had  the 
force  or  the  courage  to  attack  us,  that  he  had  ex- 
hausted our  resources,  and  that  the  Prussians  them- 
selves would  give  us  more  liberty  than  he  had  done. 

The  people  talked  like  Mr.  Goulden,  but  they  had 
neither  guns  nor  cartridges,  their  only  weapons  were 
pikes. 

On  the  4th,  while  we  were  thinking  of  these 
things,  they  announced  to  us  the  armistice,  by  which 
the  Prussians  and  English  were  to  occupy  the  bar- 
riers of  Paris,  and  the  Erench  army  was  to  retire  be- 
yond the  Loire. 


WATERLOO  33 1 

When  we  heard  this,  our  indignation  was  so  great 
that  we  were  furious.  Some  of  the  soldiers  broke 
their  guns,  and  others  tore  off  their  uniforms,  and 
everybody  exclaimed,  "  We  are  betrayed,  we  are 
given  up."  The  old  officers  were  quiet,  but  they 
were  pale  as  death,  and  the  tears  ran  down  their 
cheeks. 

Nobody  could  pacify  us,  we  had  fallen  below  con- 
tempt, we  were  a  conquered  people. 

For  thousands  of  years  it  would  be  said,  that  Paris 
had  been  taken  by  the  Prussians  and  the  English. 
It  was  an  everlasting  disgrace,  but  the  shame  did  not 
rest  on  us. 

The  battalion  left  Yaugirard  at  five  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  to  go  to  Montrouge.  When  we  saw  that 
the  movement  toward  the  Loire  had  commenced, 
each  one  said,  "  What  are  we  then?  Are  we  sub- 
jects to  the  Prussians?  because  they  want  to  see  us 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Loire,  are  we  forced  to 
gratify  them?  No,  no!  that  cannot  be.  Since 
they  have  betrayed  us,  let  us  go!  All  this  is  none 
of  our  concern  any  longer.  We  have  done  our 
duty,  but  we  will  not  obey  Bliicher!  " 

The  desertion  commenced  that  very  night;  all  the 
soldiers  went,  some  to  the  right  and  some  to  the  left; 
men  in  blouses  and  poor  old  women  tried  to  take  us 
with  them  through  the  wilderness  of  streets,  and  en- 
deavored to  console  us,  but  we  did  not  need  consola- 


333  WATERLOO 

tion.  I  said  to  Buche :  "  Let  us  leave  the  whole 
thing,  and  return  to  Pfalzbourg  and  Harberg,  let 
us  go  back  to  our  trades  and  live  like  honest  people. 
If  the  Austrians  and  Russians  come  there,  the 
mountaineers  and  villagers  will  know  how  to  defend 
themselves.  We  shall  need  no  great  battles  to  de- 
stroy thousands  of  them,  let  us  go !  " 

There  were  fifteen  of  us  from  Lorraine  in  the  bat- 
talion, and  we  all  left  Montrouge,  where  the  head- 
quarters were,  together;  we  passed  through  Ivry 
and  Bercy,  both  places  of  great  beauty,  but  our 
trouble  prevented  us  from  seeing  a  quarter  of  what 
we  should  have  done.  Some  kept  their  uniforms, 
while  others  had  only  their  cloaks,  and  the  rest  had 
bought  blouses. 

We  found  the  road  to  Strasbourg  at  last,  in  the 
rear  of  St.  Mande,  near  a  wood  to  the  left  of  which 
we  could  see  some  high  towers,  which  they  told  us 
was  the  fortress  of  Yincennes. 

From  this  place,  we  regularly  made  our  twelve 
leagues  a  day. 

On  the  8th  of  July  we  learned  that  Louis  XVIII. 
was  to  be  restored,  and  that  Monseigneur  le  Comte 
d'Artois  would  secure  his  salvation.  All  the  wag- 
ons and  boats  and  diligences  already  carried  the 
white  flag,  and  they  were  singing  "  Te  Deums  "  in 
all  the  villages  through  which  we  passed ;  the  mayors 
and  their  assistants  and  the  councillors  all  praised 


WATERLOO  333 

and  glorified  God  for  the  return  of  "  Louis  the  well- 
beloved." 

The  scoundrels  called  us  "  Bonapartists,"  as  they 
saw  us  pass,  and  even  set  their  dogs  on  us. 

But  I  do  not  like  to  speak  of  them;  such  people 
are  the  disgrace  of  the  human  race. 

We  replied  only  by  contemptuous  glances,  which 
made  them  still  more  insolent  and  furious. 

Some  of  them  flourished  their  sticks,  as  much  as 
to  say, — "  If  we  had  you  in  a  corner,  you  would  be 
as  meek  as  lambs." 

The  gendarmes  upheld  these  Pinacles  and  we 
were  arrested  in  three  or  four  places.  They  de- 
manded our  papers  and  took  us  before  the  mayor, 
and  the  rascals  forced  us  to  shout  "  Vive  le 
Roi!" 

It  was  shameful,  and  the  old  soldiers  rather  than 
do  it  allowed  themselves  to  be  taken  to  prison. 
Buche  wanted  to  follow  their  example,  but  I  said^to 
him,  "  What  harm  will  it  do  us  to  shout  Vive  Jean 
Claude,  or  Vive  Jean  Nicholas?  All  these  kings 
and  emperors,  old  and  new,  would  not  give  a  hair  of 
their  heads  to  save  our  lives,  and  shall  we  go  and 
break  our  necks  in  order  to  shout  one  thing  rather 
than  another?  No,  it  does  not  concern  us,  and  if 
people  will  be  so  stupid,  as  long  as  we  are  not  the 
strongest,  we  must  satisfy  them.  By  and  by,  they 
will  shout  something  else,  and  afterward  still  some- 


334 


WATERLOO 


thing  else.  Everything  changes — nothing  but 
good  sense  and  good  will  remain." 

Buche  did  not  want  to  understand  this  reasoning, 
but  when  the  gendarmes  came,  he  submitted  not- 
withstanding. 

As  we  went  along,  one  after  another  of  our  little 
party  would  drop  off  in  his  own  village,  till  at  last 
no  one  was  left  but  Toul,  Buche,  and  I. 

We  saw  the  saddest  sight  of  all,  and  this  was  the 
crowds  of  Germans  and  Russians  in  Lorraine  fend 
Alsace.  They  r/ere  drilling  at  Luneville,  at  Bla- 
mont,  and  at  Sarrebourg,  with  oak  branches  in  their 
wretched  shakos.  What  vexation  to  see  such  sav- 
ages living  in  luxury  at  the  expense  of  our  peasants. 

Father  Goulden  was  right  when  he  said  that  mili- 
tary glory  costs  very  dear.  I  only  hope  the  Lord 
will  save  us  from  it  for  ages  to  come ! 

At  last,  on  the  16th  July,  1815,  about  eleven 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  we  reached  Mittelbronn,  the 
last  village  on  that  side,  before  reaching  Pf alzbourg. 
The  siege  was  raised  after  the  armistice,  and  the 
whole  country  was  full  of  Cossacks,  Landwehr,*  and 
Kaiserlichs.f  Their  batteries  were  still  in  position 
around  the  town,  though  they  no  longer  discharged 
them ;  the  gates  were  open,  and  the  people  went  out 
and  in  to  secure  their  crops. 

There  was  great  need  of  the  wheat  and  rye,  and 
*  German  militiamen.  f  German  imperial  troops. 


335 

you  can  imagine  the  suffering  it  caused  us,  to  feed 
so  many  thousands  of  useless  beings,  who  denied 
themselves  nothing,  and  who  wanted  bacon  and 
schnapps  every  day. 

Before  every  door  and  at  every  window  there  was 
nothing  to  be  seen  but  their  flat  noses,  their  long 
filthy  yellow  beards,  their  white  coats  filled  with 
vermin,  and  their  low  shakos,  looking  out  at  you,  as 
they  smoked  their  pipes  in  idleness  and  drunkenness. 
We  were  obliged  to  work  for  them,  and  at  last  hon- 
est people  were  compelled  to  give  them  two  thou- 
sand millions  of  francs  more  to  induce  them  to  go 
away. 

How  many  things  I  might  say  against  these  lazy- 
bones from  Russia  and  Germany,  if  we  had  not  done 
ten  times  worse  in  their  country.  You  can  each  one 
make  reflections  for  yourself,  and  imagine  the  rest. 

At  Heitz's  inn  I  said  to  Buche,  "  Let's  stop  here. 
My  legs  are  giving  out." 

Mother  Heitz,  who  was  then  still  a  young  woman, 
threw  up  her  hands  and  exclaimed,  "  My  God!  there 
is  Joseph  Bertha !  God  in  heaven !  what  a  surprise 
for  the  town !  " 

I  went  in,  sat  down  and  leaned  my  head  on  a  table 
and  wept  without  restraint. 

Mother  Heitz  ran  down  to  the  cellar  to  bring  a 
bottle  of  wine,  and  I  heard  Buche  sobbing  in  the 
corner.  Neither  of  us  could  speak  for  thinking  of 


336  WATERLOO 

the  joy  of  our  friends.  The  sight  of  our  own  coun- 
try had  upset  us,  and  we  rejoiced  to  think  that  our 
bones  would  one  day  rest  peacefully  in  the  village 
cemetery.  Meanwhile  we  were  going  to  embrace 
those  we  loved  best  in  the  world. 

When  we  had  recovered  a  little,  I  said  to  Buche : 

"  Jean,  you  must  go  on  before  me,  so  that  my 
wife  and  Mr.  Goulden  may  not  be  too  much  sur- 
prised. You  will  tell  them  that  you  saw  me  the  day 
after  the  battle,  and  that  I  was  not  wounded,  and 
then  you  must  say,  you  met  me  again  in  the  suburbs 
of  Paris,  and  even  on  the  way  home,  and  at  last,  that 
you  think  I  am  not  far  behind,  that  I  am  coming — 
you  understand." 

"  Yes,  I  understand,"  said  he,  getting  up  after 
having  emptied  his  glass,  "  and  I  will  do  the  same 
thing  for  grandmother,  who  loves  me  more  than  she 
does  the  other  boys;  I  will  send  some  one  on  before 
me." 

He  went  out  at  once,  and  I  waited  a  few  min- 
utes ;  Mother  Heitz  talked  to  me  but  I  did  not  listen ; 
I  was  thinking  how  far  Buche  had  gone;  I  saw  him 
near  the  ford,  at  the  outworks,  and  at  the  gate.  Sud- 
denly I  went  out,  saying  to  Mother  Heitz,  "  I  will 
pay  you  another  time." 

I  began  to  run;  I  partly  remember  having  met 
three  or  four  persons,  who  said,  "  Ah !  that  is  Joseph 
Bertha!  "  But  I  am  not  sure  of  that. 


WATERLOO  337 

All  at  once,  without  knowing  how,  I  sprang  up 
the  stairs,  and  then  I  heard  a  great  cry — Catherine 
was  in  my  arms. 

My  head  swam — in  a  minute  after  I  seemed  to 
come  out  of  a  dream;  I  saw  the  room,  Mr.  Goulden, 
Jean  Buche,  and  Catherine;  and  I  began  to  sob 
so  violently,  that  you  would  have  thought  some 
great  misfortune  had  happened.  I  held  Catherine 
on  my  knee  and  kissed  her,  and  she  cried  too.  Af- 
ter a  long  while  I  exclaimed : 

"  Ah !  Mr.  Goulden,  pardon  me !  I  ought  to  have 
embraced  you,  my  father!  whom  I  love  as  I  do 
myself!  " 

"  I  know  it,  Joseph,"  said  he  with  emotion,  "  I 
know  it,  I  am  not  jealous."  And  he  wiped  his  eyes. 
"  Yes — yes — love — and  family  and  then  friends. 
It  is  quite  natural,  my  child,  do  not  trouble  your- 
self about  that." 

I  got  up  and  pressed  him  to  my  heart. 

The  first  word  Catherine  said  to  me  was,  "  Jo- 
seph, I  knew  you  would  come  back,  I  had  put  my 
trust  in  God!  Now  our  worst  troubles  are  over, 
and  we  shall  always  remain  together." 

She  was  still  sitting  on  my  knee  with  her  arm  on 
my  shoulder,  I  looked  at  her,  she  dropped  her  eyes 
and  was  very  pale.  That  which  we  had  hoped  for 
before  my  departure  had  come. 

We  were  happy. 

22 


338  WATERLOO 

Mr.  Goulden  smiled  as  lie  sat  at  his  workbench — 
Jean  stood  up  near  the  door  and  said : 

"  Now  I  am  going,  Joseph,  to  Harberg.  Father 
and  grandmother  are  waiting  for  me." 

"  Stay,  Jean,  you  will  dine  with  us."  Mr.  Gould- 
en  and  Catherine  urged  him  also,  but  he  would 
not  wait.  I  embraced  him  on  the  stairs  and  felt  that 
I  loved  him  like  a  brother. 

He  came  often  after  that,  but  never  once  for 
thirty  years  without  stopping  with  me.  Now  he 
lies  behind  the  church  at  Hommert.  He  was  a 
brave  man  and  had  a  good  heart. 

But  what  am  I  thinking  of?  I  must  finish  my 
story,  and  I  have  not  said  a  word  of  Aunt  Gredel, 
who  came  an  hour  afterward.  Ah!  she  threw  up 
her  hands,  and  she  embraced  me,  exclaiming: 

"  Joseph !  Joseph !  you  have  then  escaped  every- 
thing! let  them  come  now  to  take  you  again!  let 
them  come!  oh!  how  I  repented  of  letting  you  go 
away!  how  I  cursed  the  conscription  and  all  the 
rest!  but  here  you  are!  how  good  it  is!  the  Lord 
has  had  mercy  upon  us !  " 

Yes,  all  these  old  stories  bring  the  tears  to  my 
eyes,  when  I  think  of  them;  it  is  like  a  long  for- 
gotten dream,  and  yet  it  is  real.  These  joys  and 
sorrows  that  we  recall,  attach  us  to  earth,  and  though 
we  are  old  and  our  strength  is  gone  and  our  sight  is 
dim,  and  we  are  only  the  shadows  of  ourselves;  yet 


WATERLOO  339 

we  are  never  ready  to  go,  we  never  say,  "It  is 
enough!  " 

These  old  memories  are  always  fresh;  when  we 
speak  of  past  dangers  we  seem  to  be  in  the  midst  of 
them  again;  when  we  recall  our  old  friends,  we 
again  press  their  hands  in  imagination,  and  our  be- 
loved is  again  seated  on  our  knee,  and  we  look  in 
her  face,  thinking,  "  She  is  beautiful!  "  and  that 
which  seemed  to  us  just  and  wise  and  right  in  those 
old  days,  seems  right  and  wise  and  just  still. 

I  remember — and  I  must  here  finish  my  long 
story — that  for  many  months  and  even  years  there 
was  great  sorrow  in  many  families,  and  nobody 
dared  to  speak  openly,  or  wish  for  the  glory  of  the 
country. 

Zebede  came  back  with  those  who  had  been  dis- 
banded on  the  other  side  of  the  Loire,  but  even  he 
had  lost  his  courage.  This  came  from  the  ven- 
geance and  the  condemnations  and  shootings,  mas- 
sacres and  revenge  of  every  kind  which  followed 
our  humiliation;  from  the  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand Germans,  English,  and  Russians,  who  gar- 
risoned our  fortresses,  from  the  indemnities  of  war, 
from  the  thousands  of  emigres,  from  the  forced  con- 
tributions, and  especially  from  the  laws  against  sus- 
pects, and  against  sacrilege,  and  the  rights  of  pri- 
mogeniture which  they  wished  to  be  re-established. 

All  these  things  so  contrary  to  reason  and  to  the 


340  WATERLOO 

honor  of  the  nation,  together  with  the  denunciations 
of  the  Pinacles  and  the  outrages  that  the  old  revo- 
lutionists were  made  to  suffer — altogether  these 
things  have  made  us  melancholy,  so  that  often  when 
we  were  alone  with  Catherine  and  the  little  Joseph, 
whom  God  had  sent  to  console  us  for  so  many  mis- 
fortunes, Mr.  Goulden  would  say,  pensively: 

"  Joseph,  our  unhappy  country  has  fallen  very 
low.  "When  Napoleon  took  France  she  was  the 
greatest,  the  freest,  and  most  powerful  of  nations, 
all  the  world  admired  and  envied  us,  but  to-day  we 
are  conquered,  ruined,  our  fortresses  are  filled  with 
our  enemies,  who  have  their  feet  on  our  necks;  and 
what  was  never  before  seen  since  France  existed, 
strangers  are  masters  of  our  capital — twice  we  have 
seen  this  in  two  years.  See  what  it  costs  to  put  lib- 
erty, fortune,  and  honor  in  the  hands  of  an  am- 
bitious man.  We  are  in  a  very  sad  condition,  the 
great  Revolution  is  believed  to  be  dead,  and  the 
Rights  of  Man  are  annihilated.  But  we  must  not 
be  discouraged,  all  this  will  pass  away,  those  who 
oppose  liberty  and  justice  will  be  driven  away,  and 
those  who  wish  to  re-establish  privileges  and  titles 
will  be  regarded  as  fools.  The  great  nation  is  re- 
posing, is  reflecting  upon  her  faults,  is  observing 
those  who  are  leading  her  contrary  to  her  own  in- 
terests: she  reads  their  hearts,  and  in  spite  of  the 
Swiss,  in  spite  of  the  rpyal  guard,  in  spite  of  the 


WATERLOO  341 

Holy  Alliance,  when  once  she  is  weary  of  her  suf- 
ferings she  will  cast  them  out  some  day  or  other. 
Then  it  will  be  finished,  for  France  wants  liberty, 
equality,  and  justice. 

"  The  one  thing  which  we  lack  is  instruction, 
though  the  people  are  instructing  themselves  every 
day,  they  profit  by  our  experiences,  by  our  mis- 
fortunes. 

"  I  shall  not  have  the  happiness,  perhaps,  of  see- 
ing the  awakening  of  the  country,  I  am  too  old  to 
hope  for  it,  but  you  will  see  it,  and  the  sight  will 
console  you  for  all  your  sufferings;  you  will  be 
proud  to  belong  to  that  generous  nation  which  has 
outstripped  all  others  since  '89;  these  slight  checks 
are  only  moments  of  repose  on  a  long  journey." 

This  excellent  man  preserved  to  his  last  hour  his 
calm  confidence. 

I  have  lived  to  see  the  accomplishment  of  his  pre- 
dictions, I  have  seen  the  return  of  the  banner  of  lib- 
erty, I  have  seen  the  nation  grow  in  wealth,  in  pros- 
perity, and  in  education.  I  have  seen  those  who  ob- 
structed justice  and  who  wished  to  establish  the  old 
regime,  compelled  to  leave.  I  have  seen  that  mind 
always  progresses,  and  that  even  the  peasants  are 
willing  to  part  with  their  last  sou  for  the  good  of 
their  children. 

Unfortunately  we  have  not  enough  school- 
masters. If  we  had  fewer  soldiers  and  more  teach- 


343 


WATERLOO 


ers  the  work  would  go  on  much  faster.  But — pa- 
tience— that  will  come. 

The  people  begin  to  understand  their  rights,  they 
know  that  war  brings  them  nothing  but  increased 
contributions,  and  when  they  shall  say,  "  Instead  of 
sending  our  sons  to  perish  by  thousands  under  the 
sabre  and  cannon,  we  prefer  that  they  should  be 
taught  to  be  men;  "  who  will  dare  to  oppose  them? 
To-day  the  people  are  sovereign! 

In  this  hope,  my  friends,  I  embrace  you  with  my 
whole  heart,  and  bid  you,  Adieu  1 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


A    000033765    9 


